The government has repeatedly shut down as Ronald Reagan was president, but Trump has overseen the longest.
How long will the government closure last? History provides clues
The US faces the possibility of a closure. Previous closures lasted from a few days to a month.
The shutdown government is a territory familiar to President Donald Trump’s territory, which saw three closures in his first term, including a 35-day closure between the end of 2018 and early 2019. This remains the longest in US history.
Congress urged President Trump’s fourth largest federal government shutdown after failing to pass new spending authorities by the start of Wednesday, October 1st.
“Many profits can get off the closure,” Trump told White House reporters hours before the deadline. “We can get rid of a lot of things we don’t want.”
Leaders of both parties are on the ground, and it is unclear how long this shutdown will last. “I hope it’s very short because real Americans suffer,” Mike Johnson told CNN on September 30th.
Republicans are calling for a suspension solution that will expand current funding levels until November 21st.
Democrats want to cancel the massive Medicaid cuts that Republicans created this summer. They also want to permanently extend the tax subsidies millions of Americans use to purchase insurance in federal and state health insurance markets. Those grants are expected to expire on December 31st, and Republicans say they have time to negotiate later.
A few weeks after not talking to each other as the deadline approached, Trump and four top Congressional leaders left the private White House meeting on September 29th without agreeing to keep the federal government open.
Shutdown timeline
Trump was in office on January 20, 2018 (January 20, 2018) when the government first closed under his leadership.
The three-day closure began when Trump spent between him and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, was protecting these young adults under a childhood arrival program or postponed action for the DACA. Trump ended the program but gave lawmakers six months to come up with alternatives.
However, during budget negotiations, he called for immigration concessions from Democrats. The government resumed after Congress passed a short-term compromise that did not include the immigration clause Democrats wanted.
Three weeks later, on February 8, 2018, the government closed for the second time, but for a short time.
Kentucky’s conservative Republican Sen. Rand Paul added more than $300 billion to the federal deficit, causing the government shutdown when he blocked the Senate vote on the funding bill. The closure ended hours after the Senate and House of Representatives both approved spending measures.
The third closure of Trump’s first term – and the longest in US history – began on December 22, 2018 and continued until January 25, 2019, after Trump demanded $5.7 billion to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Democrats have completely refused to negotiate with border wall funding until the government reopens.
That standoff has grown for 35 days, leading to one of more than 350,000 federal workers, forcing 400,000 others to work unpaid. Some food safety inspections have been temporarily suspended, garbage has been piled up in national parks, federal landmarks and museums have been closed, and some airports have closed checkpoints due to fewer Transportation Security Bureau officials to screen passengers.
The closure only ended after Trump supported a bipartisan bill that did not include border wall funds he requested.
Trump also became a shutdown battle between conditions. He won reelection in 2024, but before taking office, Trump tried to torpedo the short-term funding bill that the government had been running beyond the inauguration ceremony and beyond March. The Republican-led Congress has passed a bipartisan spending bill with democratic support to avoid shutting down governments before Christmas and Hanukkah.
Not a record number of shutdowns
Trump may have the longest shutdown record, but he has the least shutdown record. The government has been closed eight times in Ronald Reagan’s eight years as president. But everything was short. The longest lasted for just three days.
Jimmy Carter presided over five government closures during his one period of office, the longest lasted for 18 days.
Since 1975, there have been 20 government closures that lasted at least one day, most were held before 1995, with half being very short.
Before the 1980s, even if Congress had not yet approved the new spending plan, it was not actually closed. Instead, according to the Congressional Research Services, agencies often continue to operate with the hope that future funding will be provided.
Later, in 1980 and 1981, U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Vititi wrote a series of legal opinions that established the basis for the government’s closure.
Contribution: Michael Collins
Sarah D. Wire wrote in USA Today about real people being influenced by the federal government. She can contact swirre@usatoday.com
