Thousands of US federal employees stopped working on October 1, when the government shut down due to a budget impasse in Congress. Following are the longest shutdowns since 1980, when US administrations started furloughing some federal workers as budgets expired.
2018-2019 — 35 days
The longest shutdown on record started December 22 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House. Democrats in Congress refused to back a spending bill that included Trump’s $5.7bn request for fencing on the US-Mexico border. Legislators eventually approved a spending bill without border wall money that Trump signed into law on January 25 2019, ending the shutdown.
1995-1996 — 22 days
The government partially shut down on December 16 1995, as part of a clash between the Republican-controlled Congress and then-president Bill Clinton, a Democrat, over how to balance the budget. Clinton signed a bill to reopen the government on January 6 1996. Some polls showed the public largely blamed Republicans in Congress for the shutdown, and some analysts said the spat helped Clinton win re-election in 1996.
2025 — 17 days
The shutdown currently under way is now the third longest. Democrats have blocked spending legislation in the Republican-controlled Congress, saying that any funding package must also expand Covid-19 pandemic-era healthcare subsidies due to expire at the end of December. Republicans say that that issue should be dealt with separately.
2013 — 16 days
Government workers started furloughs on October 1 2013, after Republicans demanded cuts or delays to a healthcare law championed by then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat. The shutdown was part of a broader impasse over the national debt, with the government at risk of defaulting on its obligations without congressional authorisation for further borrowing. Obama signed a bill reopening the government shortly after midnight on October 17 2013, with legislation that also authorised more borrowing.
1995 — six days
In a prelude to the longer shutdown at the close of 1995, government workers started furloughs on November 14 1995, after Clinton vetoed a spending bill backed by Republicans. Washington reached a deal on November 19 1995 to reopen the government, but another shutdown was only weeks away.
1990 — three days
Republican President George HW Bush vetoed a spending bill over a fight on how to reduce deficits, leading to a partial shutdown on October 6 1990, that closed national parks and other landmarks. Legislators passed a measure to reopen the government in the early hours of October 9 1990.
2018 — three days
Democrats in the Republican-controlled congress blocked a spending bill, triggering a shutdown on January 20 2018, partly as a way to shield from deportation immigrants who entered the country without authorisation as children. Congress approved a bill ending the shutdown on January 22 2018, without addressing the fate of the young undocumented immigrants.
Reuters
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