The United States federal government shut down at 12:01am East Coast time (04:01 GMT) on Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a new spending bill, forcing operations considered inessential to close.
President Donald Trump has threatened to use the budget deadlock to push through mass layoffs of federal employees.
Democrats and Republicans remain divided over spending priorities as Democrats push to protect healthcare, social programmes and foreign aid while Republicans demand cuts.
This is not the first time Washington has faced such a standoff. The graphic below shows every US funding gap and government shutdown since 1976, including how long each lasted and under which administration it occurred.
What is a government shutdown?
A government shutdown happens when Congress does not agree on a budget, so parts of the federal government have to close until a spending plan is approved.
Shutdowns tend to happen in October because the government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
The current budget process was established in 1976. Since then, the government has had 20 funding gaps, resulting in 10 shutdowns.
A funding gap occurs whenever Congress misses the deadline to pass a budget or a stopgap spending bill (also called a continuing resolution), leaving the government without legal authority to spend money.
- A single shutdown can involve multiple funding gaps if temporary funding measures expire before a long-term agreement is reached.
- A shutdown happens only if government operations actually stop because of that funding gap.
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Before the 1980s, funding gaps did not usually lead to shutdowns, and agencies kept operating, assuming funding would be restored soon.
After 1980, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued legal opinions stating that, under federal law, agencies may not spend money without congressional approval. Only essential services – such as national security, air traffic control and law enforcement – could continue.
Since 1982, with this new legal basis in place, funding gaps have more often resulted in full or partial government shutdowns until Congress resolves the standoff.
When was the last government shutdown?
The last government shutdown occurred in December 2018 and January 2019 after President Donald Trump, then in his first term, and Democratic politicians hit an impasse over the president’s request for $5bn in funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border, a demand the Democrats opposed.
When was the longest shutdown?
The last shutdown was also the longest in US history, lasting 35 days from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019, when Trump announced he had reached a tentative deal with congressional leaders to reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations on the border wall continued.
What happens during a shutdown?
During a government shutdown, nonessential federal services are halted or reduced, and many government employees are furloughed, or placed on unpaid leave.
Meanwhile, essential personnel – such as military service members, law enforcement officers and air traffic controllers – are required to keep working, often without pay until funding is restored.
How are government shutdowns resolved?
Shutdowns are typically resolved when Congress passes a continuing resolution, which provides short-term funding while negotiations for a longer-term budget continue.
Since 1990, every shutdown has ended through the passage of a continuing resolution.
Which services are halted?
A shutdown primarily affects nonessential federal employees as well as people and businesses that rely on government services.
The federal government is the nation’s largest employer. As of November, it had a little more than 3 million workers – about 1.9 percent of the civilian workforce – according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by the Pew Research Centre.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that if funding lapses in fiscal year 2026, about 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day, and their lost pay would add up to about $400m daily. The exact number of furloughed workers could change over time because some agencies might increase layoffs the longer a shutdown continues while others could bring some employees back.
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Past shutdowns have affected numerous services and agencies, including:
- National parks and monuments
- Federal museums
- Federal research projects
- Processing of certain government benefits
- IRS taxpayer services
Which services are still in operation?
Even during a shutdown, many core government functions remain in operation. Some continue because they are classified as essential for public safety and welfare while others are funded separately from the annual budget process through mandatory or self-sustaining programmes. Examples include:
- Social Security and Medicare benefits
- The military and federal law enforcement
- US Postal Service
- Air traffic control
- US Passport Agency
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