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The US authorities shutdown has resulted within the furlough of roughly 900,000 federal staff.
Congress is deadlocked over finances points, significantly Reasonably priced Care Act subsidy cuts.
The continuing shutdown is already the fourth-longest in US historical past, matching the 2013 shutdown.
The US authorities is closed for enterprise.
For the reason that government shutdown started on October 1, an estimated 900,000 federal staff throughout numerous businesses have been furloughed, which means they’ve been positioned on unpaid go away. In the meantime, others are working with out pay.
Because the Trump administration threatens to completely lay off some federal workers — an unprecedented transfer throughout shutdowns — the stakes for reopening the federal government have been heightened.
Congress has been in a gridlock, unable to reopen the federal government, as Democratic representatives push towards laws that might lower subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare.
The budget approval course of we all know as we speak was launched in 1974, when Congress handed the Funds Act of 1974 in response to President Richard Nixon’s impounding of federal funds authorised by Congress throughout his presidency.
Since then, there have been greater than a dozen shutdowns.
As of October 17, the continued shutdown ranks because the fourth-longest in US history, in a tie with the 2013 shutdown.
We ranked the ten longest authorities shutdowns in US historical past utilizing the Home of Representatives’ list, which counts shutdown length from the primary day of the funding hole to the final full day the federal government was shut down, not together with the day that the laws reopening the federal government was signed into legislation.
See how the continued shutdown compares to previous authorities shutdowns.
10. In 1995, the federal government shut down for 5 days because the Clinton administration debated with congressional Republicans on finances priorities.
Speaker of the Home Newt Gingrich (second from left) campaigned on a platform of diminished authorities spending. AP Photograph/Marcy Nighswander, File
Dates: November 13 to 19, 1995
On November 13, 1995, the federal government entered a five-day shutdown as congressional Republicans and the Clinton administration failed to achieve an settlement on budget priorities.
The disagreements started after the Home and Senate each flipped to a Republican majority in the course of the midterm elections, when Republican politicians, together with Speaker of the Home Newt Gingrich, campaigned on a platform of diminished authorities spending, as outlined in what they referred to as a “Contract with America.”
Having management of the Home for the primary time in 40 years, the Republicans handed a spending invoice that lower federal funding for Medicare and gave states extra energy over welfare programs, equivalent to Medicaid.
Clinton vetoed the invoice, and the federal government shut down for 5 days earlier than Congress handed a brief funding invoice to maintain federal businesses working.
The finances debates later led to what grew to become, on the time, the longest authorities shutdown in US historical past.
8. (tie) In 1977, the federal authorities shut down — twice — for eight days over using Medicaid funds for abortions.
The Democrat-led Home and Senate shut down the federal government thrice below President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Pictures
Dates: October 31 to November 9, and November 30 to December 9, 1977
The federal government shut down for eight days twice between October 31 and December 9, 1977, after an extended hole in funding originally of that October. The three funding gaps accounted for a complete of 28 days that 12 months throughout which the federal authorities operated exterior its appropriated finances.
The gaps in funding got here because the Democrat-led Home and Senate argued over whether or not Medicaid funds must be used to pay for abortions.
Regardless of the funding hole, most federal businesses continued to function as traditional, and staff weren’t furloughed. This was the norm earlier than the 1981 Supreme Court decision, which dominated that federal businesses lacked the authorized means to function during times of funding gaps.
7. In 1976, an appropriations invoice vetoed by President Ford resulted in a 10-day funding hole.
Ford vetoed Congress’s appropriations invoice for the Departments of Labor and Well being, Schooling, and Welfare in 1976. Dev O’Neill/CQ Roll Name through Getty Pictures
Dates: September 30 to October 11, 1976
The primary authorities shutdown occurred in 1976, when President Gerald Ford vetoed an appropriations invoice for the Departments of Labor and Well being, Schooling, and Welfare handed by Congress, citing the will increase as “inflationary,” as reported by The New York Times on the time.
Whereas Congress overrode the veto on October 1, the method resulted in a lapse in funding that lasted for 10 days.
6. In 1979, one other struggle in Congress over Medicaid funding for abortions shut down the federal government for 11 days.
The federal government had an 11-day funding hole in 1979 over Medicaid funding for abortions. Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis through Getty Pictures
Dates: September 30 to October 12, 1979
The talk over using Medicaid funds for abortions that had resulted in 28 days of lapsed funding in 1977 continued within the following years.
In 1979, the Home and Senate, each held by Democratic majorities, disagreed on how Medicaid funds must be used for abortions, with the Home passing a restrictive invoice and the Senate searching for a extra permissive method that might permit for funding in instances of rape and incest.
Funding restarted when a compromise bill was handed, which included the Senate’s method to abortion funding and a increase in congressional salaries.
5. Additionally in 1977, the federal government shut down for 12 days over Medicaid restrictions on abortion funding.
The federal government had three lapses in funding in 1977 over a congressional debate on using Medicaid funds for abortions. AP
Dates: September 30 to October 13, 1977
The longest funding hole of 1977 occurred on September 30, when the Home and Senate did not go a funding invoice for the Departments of Labor and Well being, Schooling, and Welfare over disagreements on using Medicaid funding for abortions.
Whereas each chambers had been managed by the president’s social gathering, the Home advocated for funding solely in instances the place the mom’s life was in danger, whereas the Senate backed a much less restrictive method, which might additionally present funding in instances of rape and incest.
The disagreement led to the passage of a brief funding invoice, which expired on October 31 and was adopted by two extra lapses in funding.
Like different funding gaps previous to 1977, federal businesses continued working, and no federal staff had been furloughed.
4. In 2013, the federal government shut down for 16 days over Obamacare funding.
Debates over Obamacare funding led to a 16-day shutdown of the federal government in 2013. Alex Wong/Getty Pictures
Dates: September 30 to October 17, 2013
After 16 years and not using a authorities shutdown, the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-held Home did not go a funding invoice attributable to disagreements over the Affected person Safety and Reasonably priced Care Act, often known as Obamacare.
In an effort to decrease the act, the Home handed two funding payments that might defund parts of this system and delay its implementation by a 12 months; nevertheless, neither was handed by the Senate.
The showdown led to over 800,000 federal staff being furloughed throughout finances negotiations, whereas pay for active-duty army members was agreed upon by the president and Congress.
After two weeks, the Home handed a funding invoice with out restrictions for the health law.
3. In 1978, President Carter shut down the federal government for 17 days over “wasteful” spending.
The federal government shut down for 17 days in 1978 after Carter vetoed spending he deemed wasteful. Bettmann/Getty Pictures
Dates: September 30 to October 18, 1978
The longest authorities shutdown of the Carter presidency began on September 30, 1978, when the president vetoed a spending invoice that included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a sequence of water public works initiatives, which he deemed wasteful.
The veto, added to the prevailing congressional disagreements over Medicaid abortion funding, led to a 17-day deadlock that ended as soon as Congress eliminated each the plane provider and water works funding from the funding invoice.
2. In 1995, the federal government shut down for 21 days after Clinton vetoed the Republicans’ long-term finances.
Congress Republicans opposed the Clinton administration’s budgeting priorities within the 1995 shutdown. Robert McNeely/White Home/Consolidated Information Photos/Getty Pictures
Dates: December 15, 1995, to January 6, 1996
Following the shorter, five-day shutdown on November 13, 1995, the federal government entered one other funding hole on December 15, after a brief funding invoice expired with out Congress and the president agreeing on a invoice to maintain the federal government open.
The federal government stood at a stalemate for 21 days, with federal businesses furloughing staff in the course of the vacation season.
The shutdown got here to an finish when congressional Republicans, who had misplaced public assist within the polls, as reported by NPR, handed a balanced budget that averted hikes in Medicare premiums and funding cuts for federal businesses.
The federal government didn’t shut down once more for 16 years.
1. In 2018, the federal government shut down for 34 days over debates on funding a border wall and defending Dreamers.
The longest authorities shutdown in US historical past started in December 2018 as Trump and Congress disagreed on border wall funding. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures
Dates: December 21, 2018, to January 25, 2019
The longest authorities shutdown in US historical past started on December 21, 2018, after Home Democrats refused to approve spending payments that supplied the Trump administration with $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border, which the president had insisted on.
Whereas clear funding payments had been handed by means of the House and the Senate, each of which had been held by Republican majorities, the president refused to approve the budgets, leading to a 34-day stalemate.
Throughout the practically 5 weeks the federal government was closed, airports started experiencing flight delays as air traffic controllers and TSA staff, who had been working with out pay, started calling out sick en masse. TSA reported that the variety of staff taking sick go away had greater than doubled because the starting of the shutdown.
The shutdown ended when the president and Congress agreed on a funding invoice that did not embody funding for the border wall.
The present ongoing shutdown already ranks inside the prime 5 longest in US historical past.
As the continued shutdown nears the 20-day mark, Democrats and Republicans haven’t but reached an settlement. Nathan Posner/Anadolu through Getty Pictures
Dates: October 1, 2025, to present
The federal government shut down on October 1, 2025, after Congress did not agree on funding measures, with a key level of competition being healthcare subsidies.
Democrats refused to assist a brief funding bill handed by Home Republicans that lacked protections towards provisions from Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which they are saying would lower federal funding, broaden Medicaid requirements, and cut back subsidies for the Reasonably priced Care Act, citing elevated healthcare premiums.
Federal funding expired on October 1 as each side failed to achieve an settlement.
With the Senate failing to advance a funding invoice for the tenth time because the shutdown started on Thursday, the shutdown is predicted to proceed into subsequent week, when the following vote is scheduled.
So far as negotiations go, the stalemate seems to haven’t any clear finish in sight, at the same time as furloughed federal workers and a few staff working with out pay enter a 3rd week of uncertainty.
