The federal government shut down Sept. 30 after the Congress failed to pass a continuing resolution to continue to fund the government. As a result, more than 2.1 million federal employees found themselves either sent home from work or asked to work without pay.

While the shutdown continues to leave national parks, government agencies and government websites closed, students at DePaul have not yet felt any impact in their own lives.

“I wouldn’t limit my answer to students,” said Michael Mezey, a political science professor at DePaul. “I think it does contribute to a sense of ‘look government shutdown, maybe we don’t need government’.”

“It’s like if an employer of over a million people just laid off everyone without pay,” Mezey said. “The longer the shutdown continues, the more people are going to feel it as the effects start to be felt through the economy.”

Businesses that rely on government contracts will be hit by the shutdown first. Shipyards that produce navy ships will be closing down at the end of the week because they require a navy inspector to continue doing work, and all of the inspectors have been furloughed.

Students at DePaul, while not feeling the shutdown in their lives, are seeing the debate spill over into social media.

“I know someone who unfriended all of their friends after he posted something,” Manal David, a DePaul sophomore said. “It was a neutral post too, but people just got so aggressive telling him he was wrong. It shocks me people are so aggressive.”

“It just seems childish,” DePaul student Meeko Allen, said. “I think Republicans and Democrats just need to grow up.”

“This shutdown is different than previous shutdowns we have had, almost without precedent,” Mezey said.

Shutdowns in the past have come from issues directly relating to the budget. Seventeen years ago when the government shut down, it was over a debate about taxes between Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton.

The current shutdown derives from debate on the Affordable Care Act, also known as “ObamaCare,” in particular a group of Republicans who have refused to vote for any bill that will not defund the program.

“To be clear, Obamacare has already been funded and is moving forward,” Mezey said. “These are house Republicans taking the government hostage.”

Hostage taking on a smaller scale is nothing new to congressional politics according to Mezey, citing examples of senators holding bills or the confirmation of an appointee to gain a political advantage.