U.S. Sen. John Curtis says people aren’t feeling the impact of the current federal government shutdown like they have in the past — and, because of that, he thinks the shutdown could drag on for a long time.
“Currently in Utah, the pressure points are around a lot around the parks,” Curtis told reporters Friday morning. “Those are still functioning. Not at 100%, but they’re still functioning. We don’t have people calling in and saying, ‘I can’t get my passport,’ and those are usually the things that build up in a shutdown.”
The Utah Republican said it’s been “a really interesting shutdown. “I’ve been through far too many … [and] I’m not feeling what we’ve usually felt in these. I can tell you each president reacts differently.”
“I don’t think either Republicans or Democrats are feeling it quite the way that people thought we would almost three weeks into the shutdown,” he said.
Asked whether that meant the shutdown might last for quite some time, Curtis said, “It could.”
Friday marks the 17th day of the government closure, as Senate Democrats refuse to vote for a short-term funding bill unless Republicans undo health care funding cuts passed earlier this year and extend enhanced premium tax credits that millions of Americans — and thousands of Utahns — use to help pay for Affordable Care Act coverage.
Curtis said he is open to discussing an extension of the COVID-era ACA credits, but he, along with many of his GOP colleagues, blamed Democrats for the expiration of the subsidies.
Republicans control the White House, U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
He and other Republicans are “very sympathetic to increasing premiums” and “would love to have a discussion about it,” but Curtis said he feels that the demand that the issue be addressed through the government shutdown is inappropriate.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Sen. John Curtis conducts an interview with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright at the Conservative Climate Summit at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
While the senator said Friday he has not heard many concerns from constituents about the impact of the government shutdown, the effects are starting to mount nationally: Thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, and many employees considered essential have been forced to report to work without pay. President Donald Trump has also announced significant layoffs, while airport delays spread around the country as air traffic controllers call out of work and national parks lose thousands of dollars in revenue per day.
One estimate suggestions Zion National Park is looking between $35,000 and $50,000 daily on entrance fees.
And nearly 34,000 Utahns are federal employees, according to federal data from September 2024.
Rep. Blake Moore, who represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District, said recently that active duty military members will continue to be paid, but hundreds of civilian military employees at Hill Air Force Base — which is located in his district — are being asked to work without pay.
Moore also said he was particularly concerned about the impact on air traffic controllers, who he said were “already overworked” and doing a “high, high intense job.” He hoped, he added, that lawmakers could find some way to address pay for those employees during the closure.
Lawmakers have been considering a short-term funding deal that would reopen the government through early November while they finalize the rest of the legislative appropriations funding.
But during his media availability Friday, Curtis said he thinks it’s possible Congress does not address the shutdown via a short-term continuing resolution, or CR, at all, and instead that they simply come to an agreement on longer-term legislation, which he said has more bipartisan consensus.
“One possibility is to say, ‘Okay, we’re in a shutdown. We’ll still go do our appropriations,’” he said. “It’s possible that we actually go through and just approve appropriations and that’s how we get out and avoid a CR.”
Curtis spoke to reporters Friday at The University of Utah during his Conservative Climate Summit, where he discussed his work to address climate change as a Republican. As part of the event, Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke over Zoom for a conversation hosted by Curtis.
“I have spent lots of time in Utah, climbing, mountain biking, hiking, exploring, skiing. It is a tremendous state,” Wright said as he closed out the discussion with the senator. “Now go get the government open!”