The Timeline of U.S. Government Shutdowns

raquelgoulartra
3 days ago
2 min read

This article is published in collaboration with Statista

by Katharina Buchholz

The 2018/19 shutdown was the longest in recent U.S. history at 35 days. A timeline shows that government shutdowns have been getting longer in the last three decades, with the second-longest and the fourth-longest shutdown taking place in 1995 and 2013, respectively. Throughout the 1980s, shutdowns were numerous, but shorter, while in the 1970s, they also ran somewhat longer, but only surpassed two weeks once, in 1978. Government shutdowns aren't all that rare: Since 1976, there have been 20 shutdowns that lasted an average of 8 days.

Currently, the threat of yet another government shutdown in looming large in the United States, with federal funding potentially cut off at 12.01 a.m. Wednesday as no federal budget has been finalized. Republicans' efforts to buy time with a bill that would fund the government through November 21 are being rejected by Democrats who want assurances that federal healthcare subsidies for low-income people will be extended and potentially, to win back some of the Medicaid funding in the upcoming budget that the Trump Administration cut previously.

Republicans are short of the 60 Senate votes they need to pass the stopgap bill (or final budget bill) on their own due to their rather slim majority in the chamber. As July's One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed using reconciliation, Republicans can not circumvent the Senate supermajority again. Democrats meanwhile, seem to have shrugged off fears that a shutdown will make it easier for Republicans to fire even more federal workers. Conversely, the party believes that the issue of healthcare will bring Americans onto their side as Republicans' cuts to the sector are seen as unpopular.

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