{"id":108184,"date":"2025-10-26T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184"},"modified":"2025-10-26T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:00:15","slug":"the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184","title":{"rendered":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown<\/a>, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal nearly a month into fiscal year (FY) 2026.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed and thousands have been laid off. Certain federal services have also paused due to lack of funding.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time such a standoff has paused all or some government operations. Below is a list of the top five longest government shutdowns in U.S. history, and how they were resolved.<\/p>\n

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The longest government shutdown in history happened during the first Trump administration and lasted five weeks.<\/p>\n

Funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall was at the heart of that dispute. Trump had refused to sign a federal spending deal that did not include money for the project, and a standalone bill with $5.7 billion was blocked by a Senate Democrat-led filibuster.<\/p>\n

Trump eventually backed a short-term federal funding measure to reopen the government on Jan. 25, 2019, and a few weeks later, Congress approved $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border fencing between the U.S. and Mexico.<\/p>\n

It was a partial shutdown, meaning lawmakers managed to strike a deal on five of 12 appropriations bills before their clock ran out.<\/p>\n

The current government shutdown is now the second-longest in history, and the longest-ever full shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means Congress was unable to strike a federal funding deal on any appropriations bills before the end of FY 2025 on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

Republicans, who control the House and Senate, had offered a seven-week extension of FY 2025 spending levels to give lawmakers more time to hash out next fiscal year’s numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It passed the House on Sept. 19, with support from one Democrat, but has stalled in the Senate 12 separate times.<\/p>\n

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats are demanding that any federal funding plan also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year without congressional action.<\/p>\n

As of the most recent tally, at least five more Senate Democrats are needed to overcome a filibuster and pass the measure in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Republican leaders have shown no signs of giving in, however, accusing Democrats of trying to jam an unrelated issue into the yearly funding process.<\/p>\n

The second of two government shutdowns under former President Bill Clinton lasted three weeks, breaking a record at the time for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Republicans had taken control of both the House and Senate in the 1994 midterm elections, leading Clinton on a collision course with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.<\/p>\n

Gingrich pursued significant cuts to the federal budget after being emboldened by the 1994 red wave in the House following his “Contract with America.”<\/p>\n

Clinton, who also pushed for a balanced budget, disagreed with the spending cuts sought by Republicans in Congress.<\/p>\n

That was also a partial shutdown, with the departments of energy, defense, and agriculture among those funded before the impasse began.<\/p>\n

Republicans moved to end that shutdown amid mounting negative public polling for the GOP, NPR reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The longest shutdown of former President Jimmy Carter’s four-year term in the White House lasted 18 days, at a time when Democrats controlled all levers of power in Washington.<\/p>\n

Carter had vetoed Congress’ bills on defense spending and public works that he thought wasted federal dollars, according to the Washington Post<\/a>. That included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that Carter opposed.<\/p>\n

There was also a dispute over abortion in the funding bill for the now-defunct Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.<\/p>\n

Congress wound up stripping the funding that Carter opposed from the defense and public works bills, while a compromise was reached on the latter issue.<\/p>\n

Much like the current standoff, the 2013 government shutdown also centered around Obamacare<\/a> \u2014 also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).<\/p>\n

It is the second-longest full shutdown in history behind today’s. At the time, Republicans controlled the House while Democrats held the Senate.<\/p>\n

The GOP had insisted on spending bills that rolled back significant portions of Obamacare, then only about 3 years old.<\/p>\n

Senate Democrats rejected such measures passed by the Republican-controlled House, however.<\/p>\n

Congress eventually agreed to a short-term spending patch to end the shutdown, and Republicans relented on pushing funding bills with Obamacare cuts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/5-longest-government-shutdowns-history-what-happened-how-ended <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-108184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\"},\"headline\":\"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\"},\"wordCount\":749,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\",\"name\":\"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"description\":\"Latest News From WallStreet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"width\":537,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Wall Street PR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR","og_description":"There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184","og_site_name":"Wall Street PR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","article_published_time":"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36"},"headline":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended","datePublished":"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184"},"wordCount":749,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Market News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184","name":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended - Wall Street PR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-26T13:00:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/the-5-longest-government-shutdowns-in-history-what-happened-how-they-ended-108184#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","name":"Wall Street PR","description":"Latest News From WallStreet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization","name":"Wall Street PR","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","width":537,"height":70,"caption":"Wall Street PR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108184"},{"taxonomy":"stock_ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stock_ticker?post=108184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}