By Keira Jensen
As the longest government shutdown finally came to a conclusion after 43 days, millions across the country let out a sigh of relief.
Following over a month of either no pay or partial compensation, civilian federal workers eagerly collected their first checks in over six weeks. While active duty service members had been paid throughout the shutdown due to a reallocation of funds, they would’ve missed pay for the first time ever as a result of a government shutdown had it lasted only two days longer.
Here in El Paso, our largest employer is easily the government. Fort Bliss alone employs over 40,000 individuals, with around 28,000 currently serving soldiers. Tens of thousands more are employed with the Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and more. Government employees make up a crucial share of El Paso’s labor force, and a great deal of families in the 915 are reliant on paychecks coming straight from Uncle Sam.
In the past, government jobs have been generally regarded as more stable than those in the private sector due to a variety of factors like lower susceptibility to layoffs from economic hardship and legal protections that make employment termination more difficult. This stability has lifted up El Paso’s economy for decades, allowing for many to experience their “American Dream”without living in constant fear of being fired or having their income suddenly suspended.
However, a new factor has led to a great deal of insecurity in jobs largely considered to be solid: political tension.
From January to July of 2025, the U.S. government cut 292,294 total jobs, the most of any sector – and a slap in the face to those who were sold the idea of a career in government being the most reliable. While 2025 has spawned a rough job market all around, the cuts to government jobs aren’t mere products of the economic state.
In his return to office to start the year, President Donald Trump announced the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency. Aiming to reduce excess government spending and maximize efficiency, DOGE has been in the driver’s seat of these mass government layoffs. Recently, the main architect of the department, Elon Musk, has admitted he only views the department as “somewhat successful.”
DOGE has uprooted a significant number of jobs, impacting thousands of families across the United States. While some Republican members of Congress have broken from party lines and voted to oppose these cuts, there haven’t been large enough demonstrations of bipartisanship to block any DOGE bills, with the only occlusions coming from judicial action.
While El Paso’s representative, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, has voted in opposition to these cuts, both Texas senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, have voted in favor of them.
In this case, with a lack of bipartisan efforts to ensure the tens of thousands of El Pasoans – and hundreds of thousands of Texans as a whole – working government jobs were able to maintain their careers and livelihoods, Texas senators put those they serve at risk.
This is not an isolated occurrence.
Just a few months ago, the inability of Congress to come together to finalize a federal spending bill left many workers without both pay and the ability to support themselves and their families. All three members that represent El Paso voted strictly along party lines in the vote of whether or not to end the shutdown, showing little attention to compromise throughout.
The choice of both sides to not cooperate with each other ended up prolonging the shutdown, putting the thousands of El Pasoans that currently work government jobs at risk. Additionally, in choosing not to reach an understanding with Democrats prior to the shutdown, Sens. Cornyn and Cruz put the nearly 25% of El Pasoans on SNAP benefits at risk of going hungry and the thousands more who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act at risk of skyrocketing costs and ultimately unaffordable insurance.
Texas is already the state with the highest percentage of uninsured individuals, and El Paso’s rate is over 5 percentage points higher than the state’s.
The top priority of the government must always be to ensure it’s doing everything it can to help, not harm, its people. While partisanship has become an unavoidable fixture in American politics, the choice to support actions that directly harm those you serve on the grounds of sticking to a political party is unacceptable.
El Paso cannot thrive economically without bipartisan congressional efforts.
Our lives directly depend on government action. From families that rely on SNAP benefits to get dinner on the table, to veterans and soldiers dependent on the VA being staffed and operational to get the help they deserve, to civilians working at Fort Bliss who cannot afford six weeks without a paycheck, this impacts all of us. Now, more than ever, we need those who serve us in Congress to prioritize the people, not the party.
Many believe that the United States has not been this divided since the Civil War. With spikes in political violence on both sides, it can be incredibly difficult to find compromise and work together with those across the aisle.
However, as President Abraham Lincoln said prior to the Civil War, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
There are always going to be disagreements on party lines; dissent is baked into the foundation of our nation’s democracy. However, when this leads to seemingly never-ending gridlocks and perpetually poor outcomes for millions across the country, it’s more important than ever that we reconsider just how much partisanship really matters in comparison to our lives.
Keira Jensen was born and raised in El Paso, and is currently attending Columbia University studying financial engineering with minors in economics and political science.
The post Opinion: Federal job cuts and political division are putting El Paso’s economy at risk appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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