In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

government shutdown A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government. Government shutdowns in the Un ...

s occur when there is a failure to enact funding legislation to finance the government for its next fiscal year or a temporary funding measure. Ever since a 1980 interpretation of the 1884

Antideficiency Act The Antideficiency Act (ADA) () is legislation enacted by the United States Congress to prevent the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of amounts available in appropriations or funds. The law was initially e ...

, a "lapse of appropriation" due to a political impasse on proposed

appropriation bills An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

requires that the

US federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a f ...

curtail agency activities and services, close down non-essential operations,

furlough A furlough (; from nl, verlof, " leave of absence") is a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer, which may be due to economic conditions of a specific employer or in society as a whole. These furloughs may be ...

non-essential workers, and only retain essential employees in departments covering the safety of human life or protection of property. Voluntary services may only be accepted when required for the safety of life or property.The Odd Story of the Law That Dictates How Government Shutdowns Work
/ref> Shutdowns can also occur within and disrupt

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

, and local levels of government. Since the enactment of the US government's current budget and appropriations process in 1976, there have been a total of 22 funding gaps in the federal budget, ten of which have led to federal employees being

ed. Prior to 1980, funding gaps did not lead to government shutdowns, until Attorney General

Benjamin Civiletti Benjamin Richard Civiletti (July 17, 1935October 16, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney General during the Carter administration, from 1979 to 1981. The first Italian American to lead the U.S. Department of Jus ...

issued a legal opinion requiring the government to be shut down when a funding gap occurs. This opinion was not consistently adhered to through the 1980s, but since 1990 all funding gaps lasting longer than a few hours have led to a shutdown. Some of the most significant shutdowns in U.S. history have included the 21-day shutdown of 1995–1996 during the

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

administration over opposition to major spending cuts; the 16-day shutdown in 2013 during the

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

administration caused by a dispute over implementation of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

(ACA); and the 35-day shutdown of 2018–2019 during the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

administration, the longest shutdown in US history, caused by a dispute over the funding amount for an expansion of the U.S.–Mexico border barrier. Shutdowns cause the disruption of government services and programs, including the closure of national parks and institutions (in particular, due to shortages of federal employees). A major loss of government revenue comes from lost labor from furloughed employees who are still paid, as well as loss of fees that would have been paid during the shutdown. Shutdowns also cause a significant reduction in economic growth (depending on the length of the shutdown). During the 2013 shutdown,

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

, the financial ratings agency, stated on October 16 that the shutdown had "to date taken $24 billion out of the economy", and "shaved at least 0.6 percent off annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth".

Federal government

Overview

Under the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typi ...

created by the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, the appropriation and control of government funds for the United States is the sole responsibility of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

. Congress begins this process through proposing an

appropriation bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

aimed at determining the levels of spending for each federal department and government program. The finalized version of the bill is then voted upon by both the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. After it passes both chambers, it proceeds to the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

to sign the bill into law. Government shutdowns tend to occur when there is a disagreement over budget allocations before the existing cycle ends. Such disagreements can come from the president – through vetoing any finalized appropriation bills they receive – or from one or both chambers of Congress, often from the political party that has control over that chamber. A shutdown can be temporarily avoided through the enactment of a

continuing resolution In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, ag ...

(CR), which can extend funding for the government for a set period, during which time negotiations can be made to supply an appropriation bill that all involved parties of the political deadlock on spending can agree upon. However, a CR can be blocked by the same parties if there are issues with the content of the resolution bill that either party has a disagreement upon, in which case a shutdown will inevitably occur if a CR cannot be passed by the House, Senate or president. Congress may, in rare cases attempt to override a presidential veto of an appropriation bill or CR, but such an act requires there to be majority support of two-thirds of both chambers. Initially, many federal agencies continued to operate during shutdowns, while minimizing all nonessential operations and obligations, believing that Congress did not intend that agencies close down while waiting for the enactment of annual appropriations acts or temporary appropriations. However, Attorney General

issued two opinions in 1980 and 1981, that more strictly interpreted the

in the context of a funding gap, along with its exceptions. The opinions stated that, with some exceptions, the head of an agency could avoid violating the Act only by suspending the agency's operations until the enactment of an appropriation. In the absence of appropriations, exceptions would be allowed only when there is some reasonable and articulable connection between the function to be performed and the safety of human life or the protection of property. However, even after the Civiletti opinions, not all funding gaps led to shutdowns. Of the nine funding gaps between 1980 and 1990, only four led to furloughs. Shutdowns of the type experienced by the United States are nearly impossible in other forms of government: * Under the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

s used in most European and Asian nations, stalemates within the government are much less likely, as the executive head of government (i.e. the prime minister) must be a member of the legislature majority, and must maintain the approval of the legislature to remain in power (

confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of par ...

). Typically a legislature is suspended if a budget fails to pass ( loss of supply), and the head of government must resign. Then the head of state may either appoint another member of legislature who can garner majority support, or dissolve the legislature and conduct fresh general elections. * In other presidential systems, the executive branch typically has the authority to keep the government functioning even without an approved budget.

Effects

While government shutdowns prior to the 1995–1996 shutdowns had very mild effects, a full federal government shutdown causes a large number of civilian

federal employee The United States federal civil service is the civilian workforce (i.e., non-elected and non-military public sector employees) of the United States federal government's departments and agencies. The federal civil service was established in 1871 ( ...

s to be

ed. During a government shutdown, furloughed government employees are prohibited from even checking their e-mail from home. To enforce this prohibition, many agencies require employees to return their government-issued electronic devices for the duration of the shutdown. Because of the size of the government workforce, the effects of a shutdown can be seen in macroeconomic data. For example, with payment delayed to 1.3 million workers, and 800,000 employees locked out, confidence in the job market decreased but recovered within a month of the 2013 shutdown, and GDP growth slowed 0.1–0.2%. Still, the loss of GDP from a shutdown is a bigger sum than it would cost to keep the government open. However, the complete effects of a shutdown are often clouded by missing data that cannot be collected while specific government offices are closed. Additionally, some effects of the shutdown are difficult to directly measure, and are thought to cause residual impacts in the months following a shutdown. Some examples include destroyed scientific studies, lack of investment, and deferred maintenance costs. The length of the 2018–2019 shutdown curtailed safety and law enforcement investigations, caused air travel delays as essential workers stopped showing up, shut down some facilities for Native Americans and tourists, and delayed regulatory approvals and immigration hearings for non-detainees. The exact details of which government functions stop during a shutdown is determined by the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

What stays open

* "Emergency personnel" continue to be employed, including the active duty (

Title 10 Title 10 of the United States Code outlines the role of armed forces in the United States Code. It provides the legal basis for the roles, missions and organization of each of the services as well as the United States Department of Defense. ...

) military, federal law enforcement agents, doctors and nurses working in federal hospitals, and air traffic controllers. * Members of Congress continue to be paid, because their pay cannot be altered except by direct law. * Mail delivery is not affected as it is self-funded and the funds are not appropriated by Congress. * Sometimes the Washington, D.C. municipal government remains open. For example, during the 2013 shutdown, the city remained open because mayor

Vincent C. Gray Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member M ...

declared the entire municipal government to be essential.

What is shut down

* For the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

, at least half of the civilian workforce, and the full-time, dual-status military technicians in the

US National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.Title 32 status) are furloughed and not paid while the shutdown is in effect. * Programs that are funded by laws other than annual appropriations acts (like Social Security) may also be affected by a funding gap, if program execution relies on activities that receive annually appropriated funding. * Sometimes parts of the Washington, D.C. municipal government shut down, closing schools and suspending utilities such as garbage collection.

Arguments for and against

During the 2013 shutdown, the

moral philosopher Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular ...

argued in ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', that shutdowns were evidence that the U.S. Constitution's

constituted "a fundamental flaw." In 2019, following the end of the 2018–19 shutdown, Michael Shindler argued in ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' that shutdowns protect

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

. He writes, "No other political phenomena so forcefully and dramatically obliges the whole people to recognize that their ideological divisions have become so great that the exercise of their sovereignty has become virtually impossible," and "During a shutdown, the government, which is bound by elaborate mechanisms to the national will, becomes confused. For a moment, it seems as if the march of American history is at a standstill. There are only two means of moving forward: either government officials follow the will of something other than the nation or the nation engages in a momentous reconciliation of its will."

List of federal shutdowns

This list includes only major funding gaps which led to actual employee furloughs within federal departments of the US government. It does not include funding gaps that did not involve shutdowns of government departments, in which examples include: a brief funding gap in 1982, in which nonessential workers were told to report to work but to cancel meetings and not perform their ordinary duties; a three-day funding gap in November 1983 that did not disrupt government services; and a 9-hour funding gap in February 2018 that did not disrupt government services.

1980

On 1 May 1980, during the presidential term of

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction o ...

(FTC) was shut down for one day after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for the agency, due to differing opinions towards its oversight of the US economy. Prior to the shutdown, a review had been made of the 1884

regarding Congressional approval of agency funding, in which initial opinion on the subject had been that this did not require a government agency to be closed down in the wake of the expiration of their funding, before Attorney General

overruled this opinion with his own on 25 April 1980, stating that a provision of this act stipulated to the contrary. Five days later, the FTC was shutdown after Congress delayed funding for the agency in order to seek approval for an authorization bill to limit the agency's investigative and rule-making abilities following criticism of the FTC's aggressive monitoring of the economy. The 1980 shutdown was the first time a federal agency shut down due to a budget dispute, with around 1,600 federal workers for the FTC being furloughed as a result, and Federal Marshals deployed to some FTC facilities to enforce their closure. The shutdown ended after one day when Carter threatened to close down the entire US government if Congress did not pass spending bills by 1 October later that year, with economists of the time estimating that the 1-day shutdown of the FTC cost the government around $700,000, the majority of which was towards back pay for the furloughed workers. In the aftermath of the shutdown, Civiletti issued a revised edition of his original opinion on 18 January 1981, detailing that shutdowns would still require agencies that protect human safety or property to continue operating if funding for them expired.

1981, 1984, and 1986

In 1981, 1984, and 1986, thousands of federal employees were furloughed for a period of between 12 and 24 hours during both presidential terms of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. The deadlocks focused on disagreements by Reagan towards Congressional bills that went against his political beliefs and goals. The first shutdown took place on 23 November 1981, lasting for a day and placing 241,000 federal employees into furlough, after Reagan vetoed a proposed appropriation bill that contained a reduced set of spending cuts than he had proposed for select government departments. While the shutdown affected only a number of government departments, economists of the time believed that it cost taxpayers an estimated $80–90 million in back pay and other expenses over the entire day. The second shutdown occurred on the afternoon of 4 October 1984, with 500,000 federal employees placed on furlough during this period, after Reagan mounted opposition towards the inclusion of a water projects package and a civil rights measure within the proposed appropriations bill that day. While the shutdown covered around nine of the 13 appropriations bills that had not been passed at that point, Congress was forced to remove both of the opposed elements of the bill and include funding of the

Nicaraguan Contras The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 f ...

as a compromise to end the shutdown, with economists believing that the short period cost taxpayers an estimated $65 million in backpay. The third shutdown took place over a similar period and furloughed the same number of federal employees on 17 October 1986. Economists estimated that this period cost the US government $62 million in lost work. All government agencies were affected by this shutdown.

1990

The shutdown of 1990 occurred during the presidential term of George H. W. Bush and focused on a disagreement over several measures he proposed for the 1991 appropriations bill - the inclusion of major tax increases, despite Bush's campaign promise against any new taxes, and major cuts in spending towards benefit programs, including Medicare, to combat deficit reduction. On 5 October 1990, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, led by then House Minority Whip

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U. ...

, opposed the initial appropriations package, with Bush vetoing the second resolution to the spending bill the following day on 6 October. The shutdown lasted until 9 October, when Bush agreed to remove his proposed tax increases and reduce the amount of spending cuts, in return for Congress providing a concession on the amended bill to allow for increasing income tax on the wealthy. The effects of the deadlock were lessened due to the fact that the shutdown occurred across the

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

weekend - 6 October to 8 October. Only 2,800 workers were furloughed over this period, with

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

and museums, such as the Smithsonian, being closed, and a handful of departments unable to function, with the cost to the government for lost revenue and back wages being estimated to around $2.57 million.

1995–1996

Between 1995 and 1996, the US government faced two shutdowns during the presidential term of

, who opposed proposed appropriation bills for 1996 by congressional Republicans (who had a majority in both chambers) and House Speaker

. Both Gingrich and the majority of Congress sought to pass bills that would reduce government spending, much against Clinton's political objectives for 1996. Clinton objected to funding cuts affecting education, the environment, and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. One proposed bill threatened to block a scheduled reduction he had planned towards premiums within Medicare. Both sides had differing opinions over the impact the proposed House bills would have over economic growth, medical inflation, and anticipated revenues, with Clinton vetoing the bills over amendments added to them by congressional Republicans, despite Gingrich threatening to refuse to raise the country's

debt ceiling A debt limit or debt ceiling is a legislative mechanism restricting the total amount that a country can borrow or how much debt it can be permitted to take on. Several countries have debt limitation restrictions. Description A debt limit is a l ...

. The first shutdown took place on 14 November 1995, after a CR issued on 1 October had expired, and meetings between Democrat and Republican leaders failed to end the deadlock. The effect of the deadlock led to the majority of government departments being closed down and 800,000 federal workers being furloughed as a result. Although the shutdown ended five days later on 19 November, the political friction between Clinton and Gingrich over the US budget remained unresolved, and on 16 December 1995, after further spending bills failed to secure approval, a second shutdown took place. Although lasting 21 days, fewer departments were closed down, and around 284,000 federal workers were furloughed during this period. The shutdown was eventually ended on 6 January 1996, when White House and Congressional negotiators worked out a balanced budget agreement, which included approval towards modest spending cuts and tax increases. Both shutdowns had a contrasting impact on the major political players in the deadlock. Gingrich's political career was negatively impacted by the shutdowns, in part due to a comment he made during the deadlock that made it sound like his reasons for it were petty. Clinton's presidential term was positively improved by the shutdown and cited as part of the reason behind his successful re-election to the White House in 1996.Stephanopoulos, George. ''All Too Human'' Back Bay Books, 2000, pp. 406-407 Some effects of the shutdowns included the government, tourism, and airline industry losing millions of dollars in revenue during this period, with disruptions made towards the processing of passports and visas, and work on medical research and toxic waste cleanup being halted.

2013

The shutdown of 2013 occurred during the second Obama term, focusing on a disagreement between Republican-led

and the Democratic-led

towards the contents of the 2014 Continuing Appropriations Resolution bill, alongside other political issues. Congressional Republicans, encouraged by conservative senators such as

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas fro ...

, and conservative groups such as

Heritage Action Heritage Action for America, more commonly known simply as Heritage Action, is a conservative policy advocacy organization founded in 2010. Heritage Action, which has affiliates throughout the United States, is a sister organization of the conser ...

, sought to include several measures to the bill in late 2013 that could delay funding for the 2013 Affordable Care Act (ACA) and thus allow time for changes to be made to the act. However, both Obama and Democratic senators refused to agree to these measures, seeking instead for the bill to maintain government funding at then-current sequestration levels with no additional conditions.House passes spending bill to defund Obamacare
, Stephen Dinan, ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...

'', September 20, 2013House GOP launches shutdown battle by voting to defund Obamacare
, Tom Cohen, CNN, September 20, 2013 The shutdown took place on 1 October 2013, as a result of an impasse over the contents of the bill, with the House unable to approve any CRs before this date. Democrats opposed further efforts by congressional Republicans, led by House Speaker

John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...

, to delay funding of the ACA, and rejected piecemeal Resolution bills proposed by them to resolve the shutdown. As Congress was at an impasse amidst rising concerns that the US would default on

public debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

, US senators - particularly then Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McCon ...

and then Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

- negotiated a deal to end the deadlock. Their proposal, which won a Senate vote, approved an amended Resolution bill that would keep funding at sequestration levels, temporarily suspend the debt limit until 7 February 2014, and include a concession to congressional Republicans on the ACA by applying stricter income verification rules in regards to health insurance. Boehner eventually withdrew further objections and delaying attempts against the ACA upon the country being within hours of breaking its debt limit on 16 October 2013, with Congress approving the bill for Obama's signature the following day. The 16-day shutdown had considerable impact upon the United States: approximately 800,000 federal employees were put on furlough, while an additional 1.3 million had to report to work without any known payment dates during this period, costing the government millions in back pay; major government programmes concerning Native Americans, children, and domestic violence victims, alongside the legal processing of asylum and immigration cases, and sexual assault cases handled by the Office of Civil Rights, were badly disrupted by the shutdown; tourism was greatly impacted due to the closure of national parks and institutions during the shutdown and cost the government millions in lost revenue; and US economic growth was reduced during this period. In political circles, the shutdown had a negative impact on Republicans, as over half of Americans held Republicans accountable for the deadlock, in comparison to public opinion on the accountability of both the Democrats and Obama during this period.

January 2018

The shutdown of January 2018 was the first to occur during the presidential term of

and was centered around a disagreement on the issue of immigration. By the start of October 2017, Congress had failed to approve an appropriation bill to fund the US government in 2018, and instead passed three CRs to keep federal agencies open until 19 January 2018. The failure to establish a permanent spending bill was due to Democratic senators insisting that any proposed House bill needed to include funding for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy and assurances against deportation for immigrants that fell under the

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States a ...

. Republicans refused to pass such bills, citing that discussions on immigration and those individuals under DACA would not be held until mid-March of the following year. A senate vote to extend the 2018 Continuing Appropriations Resolution on 19 January 2018, which had passed a congressional vote the previous day, failed to achieve a majority, after Democratic senators led a

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

aimed at forcing Republicans to invoke a shorter duration of CR and thus invoke negotiations that could lead to extensions of the DACA policy. but failed to achieve a majority, as Democrats sought a shorter duration of CAR to force negotiations. The shutdown took place on 20 January 2018, and led to approximately 692,000 federal workers being furloughed. An attempt by Democrats to protect the payment of military personnel during the deadlock was rejected by Republicans, after Senate Majority Leader

stated that funding had to be restored for the entire US government rather than for individual government branches. Despite the bill's failure, both sides engaged in negotiations that eventually culminated with a deal on a proposed stopgap measure to fund the government for four weeks - as part of the proposal, Democrats agreed to end their filibuster and approve the Republican's measure, in exchange for fresh talks on the DACA policy and DREAM Act within newly proposed Resolution bill. The measure was approved in the House and passed a Senate vote, effectively ending the shutdown on 23 January. The impact of the shutdown was not as severe as in previous deadlocks - most government departments, such as the Department of Energy and the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

, were able to continue their functions during the 3-day deadlock despite their workers needing back-pay in the aftermath, and only a third of National Parks in the United States were closed down. In the aftermath of the shutdown, the Senate debated on a bill for the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act to provide 2-year funding for the military, and provide an extension to the Resolution to keep the government funded for another six weeks. However, the negotiations suffered delays that triggered the brief 9 February spending gap, though this merely lasted for nine hours, causing little disruption.

December 2018–January 2019

The shutdown of December 2018–January 2019 was the second to occur during the presidential term of

, and was due to a disagreement over negotiations for Trump's wall along the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

. Trump sought to have the appropriation bill for 2019 include a funding measure on border security, providing $5.7 billion toward construction of the wall. Democrats refused to support the bill, citing that the funding would be a waste of taxpayer money and questioned the effectiveness the new wall would have, opting to propose bills that would include funding for border security, but towards improving pre-existing security measures. Trump initially backed down on demands for border wall funding, but reversed this decision on 20 December 2018 over pressure from supporters, refusing to sign any CRs that did not include it. The shutdown began on 22 December 2018, after Democrats refused to support a new CR in the Senate that included approximately $5 billion for the new border wall, and continued to block further attempts upon taking control of Congress on 3 January 2019 following the 2018 mid-term elections. Although he had support from several Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Trump faced stiff opposition to border wall funding from House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with neither party able to break the political impasse through negotiations,Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman
President Trump Rejects Proposal to Temporarily Reopen the Government
''New York Times'' (January 14, 2019). rallying public support through televised addresses, offering proposals on alternative border security funding measures, or making concessions for a proposed appropriation bill with regards to the DACA policy.Joel Rose
The Border Wall Isn't The Only Reason Democrats Oppose Plan To End The Shutdown
NPR (January 22, 2019).Ted Hesson
Republicans load spending bill with hard-line measures targeting asylum
''Politico'' (January 22, 2019). The deadlock eventually ended on 25 January 2019, when both chambers of Congress approved a plan to reopen the US government for 3 weeks, in order to facilitate a period of negotiations to determine a suitable appropriation bill that both parties could agree upon, with Trump endorsing the deal amidst rising security and safety concerns. The 35-day shutdown, the longest in US history after surpassing the 21-day shutdown of 1995–1996, led to 380,000 federal workers being furloughed, and an additional 420,000 workers were required to work without any known payment dates during this period, forcing many to find other paid work or protest against the extended period of the deadlock. The extent of the funding gap had further major impacts - sharp reductions had to be made on SNAP payments, and the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory t ...

faced extensive delays on processing tax refunds worth around $140 billion; a lack of resources due to the funding gap impacted the work of several agencies, with the FBI facing major disruptions that risked compromising a number of investigations being conducted at the time; staff shortages in the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

caused a number of airports to be closed down as a result; and economic growth was severely reduced by billions of dollars. According to the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Ins ...

, the shutdown cost the government $3 billion in back pay for furloughed workers, plus $2 billion in lost tax revenues due to reduced

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

compliance activities by the

, and a smaller amount of lost fees such as for visits to national parks, for a total of about $5 billion.

State and territorial governments

County governments

References

External links

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Government Shutdown Government finances in the United States