government shutdowns are a bargaining chip which, luckily, don't get used very often. also luckily, no civil servants get fired, they get furloughed and receive their back pay when the government eventually reopens. this situation is slightly different from the one we were discussing about no one caring, though.
most Americans don't care about shutdowns unless they are affected personally. for example, one of the reasons this last shutdown backfired on trump was because the department of agriculture closed down, which meant large farmers in the midwest were unable to receive their federal farm subsidy checks, which meant they couldn't buy tons of seed and equipment, which meant they wouldn't be able to plant on time to get maximum yields or meet their own employee payrolls, etc. since those farmers tend to be conservatives based in conservative states, the conservative GOP reps and senators from those areas took a lot of heat from their angry constituents, and they in turn gave that heat to the White House. then trump folded.
so, some people cared, spoke up and got action. trump's mistake was taking a position (shutting down government ) that negatively affected a core part of his own base.
