This weekend, I attended the high school play, “Clue”. It was an updated version in which all the characters, except for Mr. Green, killed a guest, yet they all accused one another.
I’ve been thinking about the parallels between the play and the current government shutdown. Republicans are blaming Democrats, while Democrats are blaming Republicans. Neither party seems to have a clue about the damage being done to Americans.
This Isn’t a Board Game
In the play, characters moved from room to room, contemplating who was the killer while bodies piled up. In Washington, politicians are refusing to meet while American families suffer real consequences.
But this isn’t a board game. Real lives are at stake.
The WIC program is paused. On October 27, the USDA announced that no benefits would be issued after November 1 for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which serves more than 38 million people.
Among the 27,606 mothers with children living in extreme poverty (below 50% of the Federal Poverty Level), participation in SNAP and WIC varies by race and ethnicity (See Table 1)
Table 1. Women, Infants, and Children and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program Participation
Note: Sample is limited to females 15 to 50 years of age with their own children.
Source: Calculations by the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race using the 2025 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Current Population Survey. www.ipums.org.
Our analysis finds something worse than program failure: Black mothers in extreme poverty have the lowest SNAP rate at 4.2%, while multiracial mothers at identical income levels have 100% participation. Hispanic mothers access SNAP at 47.8% but have zero WIC participation. Asian mothers show zero participation despite nearly 1,900 living in extreme poverty.
This isn’t about need—these are all mothers living below half the poverty line. This is about a system that fails different communities in different ways. The consequences of the shutdown are more devastating for vulnerable communities where the support systems are already failing.
Showing Up When It Matters Most
Federal workers and TSA agents aren’t game pieces. They’re Americans who show up to work without paychecks—and in many cases, without even the promise of back pay. Going to work without pay is fundamentally American when it means keeping others safe. Every day, TSA agents contribute to airport security without pay. Air traffic controllers guide planes safely through the skies, border patrol agents work to secure our borders, and federal correctional officers fulfill their duties. This is what it truly means to prioritize the welfare of Americans.This is what putting Americans first actually looks like.
And politicians are using this work ethic as a bargaining chip.
While politicians play Clue, the Federal Reserve is trying to manage the economic fallout. The Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, bringing the federal funds rate to 3.75% to 4.00%.
However, economic data remains incomplete due to the shutdown, complicating the Fed’s assessment.
Game Over
What principle justifies 38 million people losing access to food assistance? What political victory is worth making children go hungry? What argument for fiscal responsibility can justify doubling healthcare premiums for 24 million Americans?
When we strip away the rhetoric, it becomes clear that this is about power, not about putting Americans first. It’s about winning a game.
Except this isn’t a game. When the cost is measured in empty refrigerators, families choosing between rent and food, and Americans showing up to work with no promise of payment, lawmakers must remember that these families are not merely pieces in a game.
This shutdown ends when politicians decide that American families, whom they pledged to serve, are more important than political theater.
Rhonda V. Sharpe is the president and founder of the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race. Her research focuses on gender and racial inequality, the diversity of STEM, and the demography of higher education.