Why did the US government shut down? | The Take

The US federal government is closed for business. Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on a budget to keep the government open. But over two million federal workers who will go without a paycheck during negotiations have a new worry: will President Donald Trump use the shutdown to eliminate some of their jobs permanently?  In this episode:  Heidi Zhou-Castro (@HeidiZhouCastro), Al Jazeera English Correspondent Episode credits: This episode was produced by Melanie Marich, Sarí el-Khalili, and Tracie Hunte with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Amy Walters, Kisaa Zehra, Farhan Rafid, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.  Our sound designer is Alex Roldan.  Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. The Take is nominated for the Signal Awards in the Best Daily Podcast category, and Al Jazeera’s True Crime Reports is nominated for Most Innovative Video Podcast and Best True Crime Podcast. While we wait for the judges’ decisions, you can help us win the listeners’ vote. Vote for The Take for Best Daily Podcast: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/daily-podcast True Crime Reports for Most Innovative Video Podcast: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/video/most-innovative-video-podcast And True Crime Reports for Best True Crime Podcast: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/shows/genre/true-crime