For the husband-and-wife team of David Harris and Megan Draheim, the idea of owning and operating their own distillery was 11 years in the making.
They painstakingly created new spirits, built an operation to produce their product all in one place and made sure they followed every single rule in a heavily regulated industry.
There were setbacks, like the pandemic, which closed bars and restaurants across the country and led their bank to withdraw a loan. But just last month, they opened Song Dog Farm Distillery, on a rural hillside in Boyds, Maryland, next to rows of corn they plan to use to make whiskey.
But as they worked to build a customer base, they were dealt a blow they did not see coming: a federal government shutdown.
“It’s threatening to our business, and it’s disappointing to our customers,” Harris said. “After 11 years of building, we want to satisfy people and show them the bounty of the agriculture around here and seasonal products."
Watch the interview on "Hallie Jackson NOW" tonight at 5:55 p.m. ET.
A big part of their launch plan was to take advantage of the holidays to draw in new customers with the release of new and inventive cocktails and liqueurs.
“We’ve really spent so much time thinking about every detail of this project. And it is really frustrating to get here and have our hands tied,” and Draheim said.
But each one of those drinks requires approval from the federal government. When distillers launch new drinks, they are required to get a “Certificate of Label Approval” from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which is closed because of the government shutdown. Alcoholic drinks with “flavoring or coloring materials” also need formula approval, according to the TTB.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau did not respond to a request for comment.
Right now, the bureau's website says that new applications can be filed, "but submissions will not be reviewed or processed" until the shutdown ends.
“Normally, it’s a wait time of three or five days. It’s no big deal," Harris said. "And right now, there are no approvals for any formula, any new label anywhere in the industry.”
And as the busy holiday season ramps up, they're unable to add to their product line and worry they'll lose out on sales.
“People will notice. They’re going to get sick of our very limited opening menu that we’re constrained to until the government reopens,” Harris said.
They're not alone. Gabe Spencer, head distiller at Whistling Andy Distillery in Big Fork, Montana, is deeply concerned about lost business in the coming holiday season.
“It’s stressful because … 30-35% of our revenue comes between Thanksgiving through Christmas,” he said. “In the Christmas season, our little village kind of turns into a Christmas town, so we get a lot of foot traffic through the tasting room.”
Whistling Andy Distillery is waiting on approvals of special releases for its 15th anniversary. Even if the government reopened next week and approved its label, it’s unlikely it could be printed in time.
The distillery paused plans to hire additional sales staff to promote their products around Montana and out of state.
“We need more boots on the ground and having money coming in, having the ability to bring somebody else on to help grow our brand, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that, you know, without having the revenue coming in … as much as we anticipated,” Spencer said.
Tom Lix, owner of Cleveland Whiskey in Ohio, said the shutdown means he's unable to get the approvals he needs to release a peanut butter chocolate cream liquor, designed to be swirled into warm winter drinks like hot cocoa and Irish coffee.
“It really screws up your planning and hiring of new people,” Lix said. “There’s a huge ripple effect of something as stupid as a government shutdown.”
President Donald Trump's tariffs have also raised prices on some of the bottles Cleveland Whiskey sources from Canada, Lix said. Exports of American spirits to Canada were down 85% in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., as Canadians boycott many American goods in response to Trump's tariffs and suggestions that the nation should become the 51st state.
Asked what he would say to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Lix replied, “You need to get together, get in a room and not leave until you figure this out.”
Margie A.S. Lehrman, CEO of American Craft Spirits, compared the combined effect of tariffs and stalled approvals on her industry to a boxer in a battle royal, taking hits from several fighters at once.
“They’re in the center of the ring. Before you might have got one blow; now they’re in there with multiple boxers, and they’re in the middle,” she said.
This also comes as the industry grapples with declining sales, as fewer Americans drink alcohol. According to a Gallup poll conducted in July, 54% percent of Americans say they drink beer, wine or spirits, the lowest number in the poll’s 90-year history.
For Harris, at Song Dog Farm, the uncertainty of when the shutdown will end compounds the problem.
“Businesses like ours need some type of certainty, some kind of roadmap for what’s about to happen,” he said.
