The federal government reopened this week, as you know, ending the longest shutdown in U.S.

history.

Still, there are lingering concerns about Snap and food stamps and other programs needing funding.

Yesterday, I caught up with the pants Pantsuit Politics duo Kentuckian Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers to discuss the political fallout, possibly of the shutdown and who voters may hold accountable for it.

Beth Silvers and Sarah Stewart Holland, thank you so very much for joining us.

I got the order reversed.

If you're looking at the screen that is on screen right.

And, and Sarah is on screen left.

So thank you so much for being with us.

Thank you for having us again.

So let's talk about this government shutdown and how revelatory this experience could have been for American voters who've watched this unfold for 43 days.

We've seen all kinds of snafus where it comes to other snap food stamp benefits or traveling.

Federal employees were impacted.

How do you think the American public is perhaps resetting their perception of the function, or some would say dysfunction of Washington?

I think it depends on who you're talking about.

I think for voters in the middle who are detached from party identification and really distrustful, all of our institutions already this confirmed all their worst instincts, right?

Like that they that the government is dysfunctional, that no one in Washington cares.

Like, I'm really worried it will feed that that nihilistic narrative that so many people have about our government that it's dysfunctional because it has been dysfunctional over the last 43 days, and it affected people's lives.

People who are, really disengaged from the media cycle.

I've really paid attention over the last few months to what I think bubbles up, not to all of us who follow it closely, but to people who are just absorbing something that actually affects their day to day or something that they might catch in the waiting room TV or something like that.

I think this definitely broke through, but unfortunately, I think it broke through in a way that confirms that people's disengagement with the entire government and process.

Yeah.

You know, Beth, I'd heard from several people who say, you know, I just can't watch the news anymore and people can go back and watch our previous segment where we talked about news, agnostics and atheists.

But how do you think this is either going to reengage or further disengage people by what we've experienced?

These last couple of months?

I hope it reengage as people who are thinking about running for office.

I hope there are a number of people out there who see this doesn't have to be a lot who think, you know, I think I could do this job better.

I could approach it in a different way, and I hope that they try to do that next year.

To the extent that it breaks through with people who don't pay a lot of attention to news, I think that it will tell them more about the president than about Congress.

You know, we have thought about the president as a nation more over the last ten years than we have our Congress.

And President Trump specifically tells people, I alone can fix things.

I'm the one who can make everything happen.

Really, all you have to do is vote for me and know that things will get done.

And this was a reminder that that's not our system, that Congress does have a role to play, and Congress doesn't do it very well very often.

But hopefully remembering that that even this president, who takes a lot of liberty with his power, cannot do everything without the Congress.

And I hope it makes us kind of sit up straight and pay a little bit more attention to those races next year.

Many people are asking, who are the winners and who are the losers when it comes to party.

So did the Democrats come out faring better than the Republican Party and the president?

I mean, if we look at the election a week or so ago, Sarah, what does that foretell?

I think it is hard to detach the the election results from the overall shutdown, especially with the end of the shutdown coming so close.

I know there are a lot of Democrats furious at the way the shutdown ended, but I think overall, especially for those voters who are who are absorbing the vibe more than following it day to day.

I do think it was a win overall for Democrats.

I think they got some energy back.

They got some fight back.

I think it has definitely put on display the the factions of the party who are ready to fight in the factions of the party that are still operating under a very dated status quo.

But I do think that overall, the idea that Democrats were fighting for health care, that Trump was shutting down snap benefits that Trump didn't care was off.

You know, even at Mar-A-Lago, at a Great Gatsby party or flying around the world.

I think that landed.

I think that really got through to people.

Yeah.

How how do you see it, Beth?

I really struggle with the win loss framework around shutdowns, because a government shutdown is a loss for the American people.

Any way you slice it.

I hope that what happens next, will give people a better sense of comfort.

At least that they know what each of the party stands for.

So I think what Sarah said is true.

If Democrats come out of this with a little bit of energy and a little bit of momentum, and keep putting pressure on congressional Republicans to deal with those ACA subsidies, for example, that would be a good thing.

That will be some progress.

I think there's an equally viable scenario where things kind of go back to a status quo, and that would be very tough.

That would be, I think, a double loss for the American people.

Yeah.

And just we should put a note on the fact that, you know, two and a half months from now, we're going to be back at the same place, right?

That this was only until the end of January, and then we could be facing the danger of another shutdown again.

Last question to you.

And this is kind of a large one.

Will this even matter a year from now?

If we look at our watches, you know, this time next year in 2026 will be on the other side of the midterm elections.

Do these things have any longevity?

And the memory bank of American voters are, as there is so much happening all the time, everywhere, that this will be just a blip.

And then when we get to this time next year, people will vaguely, vaguely remember what happened.

What do you think, Sarah?

I think that it builds.

Right.

It's not that I any American.

Some might.

I mean, I'm sure some federal workers will walk into the voting booth next November with a grudge and a well-deserved one, but I think it more contributes to people's narratives.

They either already have or are building.

I think the narrative that was powerful in this election, and will still be powerful in the next election, is affordability and the idea that, you know, you might not walk in and say, I'm my prices are still high.

And he cut Snap benefits last November to the shutdown.

I don't think people's brains work that way and their memories work that way.

But it is evidence that contributes to a narrative people lock in on, right?

It could be that the government's dysfunctional and they stay out of the midterm process all together.

We know that the Republican Party really has low, frequency voters.

And so maybe those people continue to stay home.

Maybe the high frequency voters in the Democratic Party are still mad.

There'll be plenty of other things to be mad about by next November, but this will be a piece of it.

So I think it just builds on the whole, I don't think it will be a sole motivator, but I do think it will be a part of the stories that Americans are telling themselves as they walk into the voting booth next November.

Beth, final word to you.

I think that's right.

I think candidates can make it matter by talking about the pain that this shutdown caused, and how important it is to have a government that functions for you, a government that doesn't make your life harder, but one that is there to serve you and to just allow you to do the basic things you need to do, like get on an airplane to visit your family around Thanksgiving and get your snap benefits at the grocery store to feed your children.

You know who who will win, I think, next year.

I think the party that wins next year will be the party that is able to say, we are here to work for you and for government to be an addition to your life, not an obstacle.

All right.

On those wise words, we will end it there.

Thank you so much, Beth Silver and Sarah Stuart Holland, Pantsuit Politics.

Listen to them on Substack and, listen to their podcasts.

Pretty interesting.

Thank you ladies, as always.

Thank you.

Thank you Renee.