Congress moves to end shutdown as Asian Americans face disproportionate impact

Following Monday’s 60-40 Senate approval, the House is set to vote today on compromise legislation to end the nation’s longest government shutdown.

State of play: The Senate advanced the legislation after eight Democrats broke with their leadership, abandoning demands to preserve enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies scheduled to expire at year’s end in exchange for a December vote without guaranteed passage. The compromise:

However, the Supreme Court has maintained restrictions on full SNAP payments. This has created disparities where some beneficiaries received complete allocations while others got nothing.

Why this matters: The end of the shutdown brings essential relief to AANHPI communities who bore the weight of the 40-day impasse. Federal employment includes 7% of Asian Americans, many of whom endured furloughs or worked without pay throughout the crisis. Meanwhile, food stamp programs support nearly one in 10 Asian Americans and one in four Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, totaling over one million Asian Americans and exceeding 128,000 NHPIs, with many working but earning lower wages due to limited English proficiency. The scope of need became clear in recent days as emergency food networks faced overwhelming demand.

Beyond immediate relief, lawmakers deferred decisions on ACA tax credits that more than 1.5 million AAPIs rely on for marketplace coverage. Allowing them to expire would triple premiums, forcing impossible choices between health insurance and other necessities. This is particularly concerning since an additional 4.5 million AAPIs receive care through Medicaid, including approximately one in five Asian Americans and one in three NHPIs.

The big picture: The standoff exposes how economic crises disproportionately harm communities of color facing multiple challenges simultaneously. Asian American families already navigating rising housing costs, language barriers and workplace discrimination saw government paychecks vanish, food assistance halt and health insurance costs surge all at once. “It is heartbreaking to hear my own parents weigh the pros and cons of purchasing healthcare for themselves,” said OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates Executive Director Thu Nguyen, adding that her father would drop his coverage so that her mother, who has operated a nail salon for 22 years, could keep insurance.

The human toll was visible across the country. The impasse became the nation’s longest on Nov. 5, just one week ago, surpassing the 2018-2019 shutdown. Federal employees lined up at emergency food distributions after missing multiple paychecks, including a Prince George’s County site that exhausted its initial 300 boxes before securing additional supplies as demand exceeded expectations. With 43% of federal workers earning less than $90,000 annually, few had reserves to weather the crisis.