What the government shutdown means for women
As the government shutdown stretches into its 16th day, it has already thrust millions of women’s lives into uncertainty.
Grant offices that serve domestic violence victims have been shuttered, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children is struggling to stay financially afloat and women federal workers have been disproportionately affected by job cuts.
Representatives from both sides of the aisle say women will bear the brunt of shutdown fallout.
“During a government shutdown, women suffer,” Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) said at a Facebook event.
“This shutdown is hurting those most vulnerable: children, single mothers, and working families,” Republican Women’s Caucus Chair Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) said in a press release.
“This is a very holistic problem. All these issues compound. … making it difficult for women to live in this country with any type of security,” Bipartisan Women’s Caucus Co-Chair Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) tells Women Rule.
The government was shut down on Oct. 1, as a result of Congress’ inability to pass a funding bill for 2026. The partisan gridlock revolved around expiring health care subsidies and cuts to Medicaid, which both parties have blamed each other for failing to compromise.
The White House said it will use the shutdown to further its restructuring of the federal government — cutting what President Donald Trump calls “Democrat” programs and threatening to forgo pay for furloughed workers who “don’t deserve to be taken care of.”
One of the fatalities of this restructuring was the Department of Justice’s grant-making office, which furloughed employees who provide federal support to organizations that aid victims of domestic violence and other crimes against women. Employees were furloughed despite the office having enough funding to continue operations through the shutdown.
The offices will be shuttered for the time being, which some current and former DOJ staffers told POLITICO will imperil victims and advocates and hamper law enforcement.
“Things keep happening even though the government is shut down,” Sykes says. “And all that means for these victims is it becomes harder and harder for them to come forward, it becomes more difficult for them to access the services that they need.”
WIC is funded through the Department of Agriculture and provides food assistance to almost seven million women, most of whom are pregnant or breastfeeding. The program will run out of funding within one or two weeks if the shutdown continues, according to Georgia Machell, the president and CEO of the National WIC Association, a nonprofit representing 12,000 public health nutrition provider agencies.
The Trump administration said it would use tariff revenue to keep WIC funded during the shutdown, although the legality and efficacy of this move is being questioned. USDA told lawmakers that WIC would be funded through October.
“While Democrats continue to vote to prolong the government shutdown, blocking funding for mothers and babies who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), USDA will utilize tariff revenue to fund WIC for the foreseeable future,” USDA wrote in a statement to Women Rule.
But Democrats like Sykes argue that using tariff funds might be illegal.
“All of the suggestions that we’ve heard have questionable legality,” Sykes says. “The best way to actually fund WIC is to actually fund WIC. And that’s through the regular appropriations process.”
On Tuesday, GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Turner of Ohio introduced a bill to expand access to baby formula supply by allowing states to contract with two suppliers in the WIC Program instead of one. Also on Tuesday, 70 House Democrats introduced the WIC Benefits Protection Act, which would make funding for WIC mandatory, regardless of lapses in government funding.
“No mother should have to worry about feeding their child because nutrition programs are being used as political weapons,” Cammack says in a statement to Women Rule.
“That’s why House Republicans passed a clean CR to keep programs like WIC funded and ensure vital services for women and children continue. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats have chosen to block those efforts for political reasons.”
Sykes argues Republicans “recently slashed funding to WIC in their previous activities this year. … WIC has only become a priority for them as a talking point because we’re in this government shutdown.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Since the shutdown, around 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed, and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said Wednesday that shutdown layoffs will reach “north of 10,000” — though that same day, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from laying off federal workers during the shutdown.
Women made up 45 percent of the entire federal workforce in September 2024, but they made up the majority of the workforce in the departments that were targeted for large-scale layoffs, according to a report from the National Women’s Law Center.
With the latest furloughs and additional job losses, NWLC CEO Fatima Goss Graves said at a Wednesday press conference, “women are disproportionately targeted in these cuts.”
By: Emma Cordover
Source: Politico