President Bartlet leaves Leo flummoxed as he refuses to back down on the government shutdown. The lights go out at midnight, and Leo sends home all non-essential federal employees -- including Donna and the rest of the assistants. While Donna works the cellphone at a Shutdown Party, Josh slogs through his non-political tasks, uninvited to the War Room. As the shutdown drags on, Angela and Leo blink first, contacting Speaker Haffley to get a deal, while Toby, CJ, and Will contemplate the political fallout. Leo calls in Abbey to talk some sense into the President, who asks Josh what to do. At Josh's urging, the president steps up to lead, walking up to the Hill to strike a deal. The Speaker miscalculates and leaves the President waiting long enough for Josh to seize the opportunity -- and the President leaves with the bargaining advantage. It all comes down to Haffley and Bartlet in a room, and the staffers wait nervously to find out if the President managed to negotiate a deal.

Starring:

STOCKARD CHANNING as First Lady Abigail Bartlet
DULÉ HILL as Charlie Young
ALLISON JANNEY as C.J. Cregg
JOSHUA MALINA as Will Bailey
JANEL MOLONEY as Donna Moss
RICHARD SCHIFF as Toby Ziegler
JOHN SPENCER as Leo McGarry
BRADLEY WHITFORD as Josh Lyman
and MARTIN SHEEN as President Josiah Bartlet

Donna:  There's no agreement.

Josh:  How far apart are we?

Donna:  They're leaving the building.

Toby:  Sell me.

CJ:  We had agreed to a one percent cut on a thirty-day continuing resolution, but the Speaker pulled a bait-and-switch.

Toby:  One percent, two percent -- what's so unreasonable about three percent?

CJ:  Three percent equals X dollars, which is Y flu vaccinations, Z school lunches.  It's more convincing with numbers.

Josh:  Why don't you just take them on disk?

Donna:  Because I don't have a computer.  Can I take a computer home?

Josh:  Not unless you want three federal agents trailing you home.

Donna:  Do I get to pick which three?

Donna:  What'd counsel say about the other thing?

Josh:  It's considered coercion if you come back to work as a volunteer.

Donna:  Oh, but it's not coercion to work on a cellphone and run to Kinko's every ten minutes to send you faxes and emails?

CJ:  That's one way to make the shutdown seem real to the country -- don't mail eleven million checks.

Will:  It'd be catastrophic if we don't fix this.

Toby:  FDR will rise from the dead?

Will:  Millions of angry grandparents are going to march on Washington, burn us in effigy.

Haffley:  We could give ever student in America $10,000 a year, but instead we fund the Department of Education.

Bartlet:  You're not going to demonize the millions of selfless teachers and public servants who are--

Haffley:  They're trapped in a failed system!  I can't stand by and--

Bartlet:  Well, I'm not going to negotiate with anyone who holds a gun to my head.  We had a deal.  I don't care if my approval ratings drop into single digits.  I am the President of the United States, and I will leave the government shut down until we come to an equitable agreement.