2025 has been a difficult year for a lot of people, and for some, the biggest burdens they had to bear were a result of the decisions made in Washington, D.C. Contrary to what Pharrell Williams may think, politics is not a “magic trick”, and its machinations have real-world impact on millions of people’s ways of life.
In addition to inflicting pain on the proletariat, politicians and politically adjacent public figures have gotten themselves into trouble this year. BOSSIP has compiled a short but mighty list of some of 2025’s most infamous instances.
The Assassination Of Charlie Kirk
Let’s address the Republican elephant in the room. By far, the biggest story in politics in 2025 was the murder of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk. While holding one of his Turning Point USA “debate” events at Utah Valley University, a bullet struck Kirk in the neck as he was attempting to deflect a question about mass shootings to “gang violence.”
The public execution was met with a myriad of reactions from celebration to devastation and everything in between. Like most things these days, the issue became highly politicized with many on the right doing their damnedest to lay blame at the feet of their colleagues and countrymen on the other side of the aisle. Even more disgusting, conservatives (and some weirdo liberals) have attempted to paint Kirk as a Martin Luther King Jr.-esque figure who “practiced politics the right way”.
Charlie Kirk’s legacy is ill-fitted for either of those descriptors. He was a white man who wanted white men at the reins of power at the expense of everyone else, particularly Black people, and other white men idolized him for it.
Historic Government Shutdown
The 2025 U.S. government shutdown lasted a record-breaking 43 days. A political impasse occurred after Congress failed to pass funding bills amid partisan disputes over spending priorities and policy riders. Nonessential agencies closed, federal workers were furloughed, services slowed, and economic uncertainty grew until a short-term funding agreement reopened government operations following intense negotiations and public pressure nationwide.
A great debate ensued in the public square about whether or not the shutdown would actually achieve the desired goal, to keep Obamacare subsidies funded and, in turn, keep millions of people with an affordable healthcare option. Ultimately, those subsidies were not extended, and in 2026, many Americans will suffer significantly increased costs, and the current majority party, Republicans, have yet to offer a solution for the crisis-level problems facing working-class families.
The Epstein Files
The Department of Justice files that were gathered during an investigation into the sex crimes of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein were the most anticipated release of 2025. If Drake and Kendrick Lamar released a joint album this year, they might have had a tough time competing against the hype of this public information dump.
Despite using the issue to win votes in the 2024 election, Donald Trump did everything in his power not to authorize the release of sensitive information that could make him look very, very bad. However, his best was no match for the most wielded weapon in Congress for 2025, the discharge petition.
The procedural tool allows House reps to force bills to the floor for a vote with 218 signatures from their colleagues. A bipartisan discharge petition was the reason that the DOJ and Trump were forced to release thousands of pages of files that contained notes, photos, and other evidence about Epstein and those in his orbit. Ultimately, an extremely redacted trove of files was made public, but Congress members from both sides of the aisle have been critical that even more files need to see the light.
Trump Deployed National Guard To U.S. Cities
One of Donald Trump’s many public relations stunts to ostensibly distract the public from the contents of the Epstein files was to deploy National Guard troops in the streets of multiple American cities. The first city to be ruled by President Orange’s iron fist was Washington, D.C. Viral videos of troops patrolling parks, picking up trash, and walking streets lined with upscale restaurants and bars made it clear that “stopping crime” was not the goal of this operation. Following the D.C. deployment, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, Portland, and Chicago were all set upon by troops who were photographed looking incredulous as they carried out nonsensical orders.
In 2025, ICE raids intensified amid heated immigration debates, targeting workplaces and communities across several states. Supporters argued that enforcement upheld federal law and border security. Critics said raids disrupted families, spread fear, and strained local trust. Legal challenges, protests, and policy disputes underscored deep national divisions over immigration enforcement and humanitarian responsibilities during elections and ongoing congressional negotiations nationwide scrutiny.
