Evidence from the past indicates that a government shutdown would hurt the party that’s in power, reports Philip Elliott of Time. Republicans only have something to lose if they allow it to go this far. The first midterm election is hard on most presidencies and Trump would be giving his opposition the fuel for a major takeover of Congress. Shutting down the government would also cost billions in lost productivity. The public sees whoever is in the Oval Office as an authority figure and generally blames them for having allowed things to get that bad. Democrats would strongly benefit from this while the GOP would suffer.