Longest US Government Shutdowns
By Reuters | 01 Oct, 2025

No one knows how this shutdown will rank among the 15 US government shutdowns since 1981, including the following long ones.

Thousands of U.S. federal employees stopped working on Wednesday when the government shutdown due to a budget impasse in Congress. 

Following are the longest shutdowns since 1980, when U.S. administrations started furloughing some federal workers when budgets expire.

2018-2019 - 35 days

The longest shutdown on record started December 22, 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term in the White House. Democrats in Congress refused to back a spending bill that included Trump's $5.7 billion request for fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border. Lawmakers eventually approved a spending bill without border wall money that Trump signed into law on January 25, 2019, ending the shutdown. 

1995-1996 - 22 days

The government partially shut down on December 16, 1995 as part of a clash between the Republican-controlled Congress and then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, over how to balance the budget. Clinton signed a bill to re-open the government on January 6, 1996. Some polls showed the public largely blamed Republicans in Congress for the shutdown and some analysts said the spat helped Clinton win re-election in 1996.

2013 - 16 days

Government workers started furloughs on October 1 after Republicans demanded cuts or delays to a health care law championed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The shutdown was part of a broader impasse over the national debt, with the government at risk of defaulting on its obligations without congressional authorization for further borrowing. Obama signed a bill re-opening the government shortly after midnight on October 17, with legislation that also authorized more borrowing.

1995 - 6 days

In a prelude to the longer shutdown at the close of 1995, government workers started furloughs on November 14 after Clinton vetoed a spending bill backed by Republicans. Washington reached a deal November 19 to re-open the government but another shutdown was only weeks away.

1990 - 3 days

Republican President George Bush vetoed a spending bill over a fight on how to reduce deficits, leading to a partial shutdown on October 6 that closed national parks and other landmarks. Lawmakers passed a measure to re-open the government in the early hours of October 9.

2018 - 3 days

Democrats in the Republican-controlled Congress blocked a spending bill, triggering a shutdown on January 20, partly as a way to shield from deportation immigrants who entered the country without authorization as children. Congress approved a bill ending the shutdown January 22 without addressing the fate of the young undocumented immigrants. 

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)