The longest government shutdowns in US history, ranked

Dates: November 13 to 19, 1995

On November 13, 1995, the government entered a five-day shutdown as congressional Republicans and the Clinton administration failed to reach an agreement on budget priorities.

The disagreements began after the House and Senate both flipped to a Republican majority during the midterm elections, when Republican politicians, including Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, campaigned on a platform of reduced government spending, as outlined in what they called a “Contract with America.”

Having control of the House for the first time in 40 years, the Republicans passed a spending bill that cut federal funding for Medicare and gave states more power over welfare programs, such as Medicaid.

Clinton vetoed the bill, and the government shut down for five days before Congress passed a temporary funding bill to keep federal agencies working.

The budget debates later led to what became, at the time, the longest government shutdown in US history.

Dates: October 31 to November 9, and November 30 to December 9, 1977

The government shut down for eight days twice between October 31 and December 9, 1977, after a longer gap in funding at the beginning of that October. The three funding gaps accounted for a total of 28 days that year during which the federal government operated outside its appropriated budget.

The gaps in funding came as the Democrat-led House and Senate argued over whether Medicaid funds should be used to pay for abortions.

Despite the funding gap, most federal agencies continued to operate as usual, and workers were not furloughed. This was the norm before the 1981 Supreme Court decision, which ruled that federal agencies lacked the legal means to operate during periods of funding gaps.

Dates: September 30 to October 11, 1976

The first government shutdown occurred in 1976, when President Gerald Ford vetoed an appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare passed by Congress, citing the increases as “inflationary,” as reported by The New York Times at the time.

While Congress overrode the veto on October 1, the process resulted in a lapse in funding that lasted for 10 days.

Dates: September 30 to October 12, 1979

The debate over the use of Medicaid funds for abortions that had resulted in 28 days of lapsed funding in 1977 continued in the following years.

In 1979, the House and Senate, both held by Democratic majorities, disagreed on how Medicaid funds should be used for abortions, with the House passing a restrictive bill and the Senate looking for a more permissive approach that would allow for funding in cases of rape and incest.

Funding restarted when a compromise bill was passed, which included the Senate’s approach to abortion funding and a raise in congressional salaries.

Dates: September 30 to October 13, 1977

The longest funding gap of 1977 happened on September 30, when the House and Senate failed to pass a funding bill for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare over disagreements on the use of Medicaid funding for abortions.

While both chambers were controlled by the president’s party, the House advocated for funding only in cases where the mother’s life was at risk, while the Senate backed a less restrictive approach, which would also provide funding in cases of rape and incest.

The disagreement led to the passage of a temporary funding bill, which expired on October 31 and was followed by two more lapses in funding.

Like other funding gaps prior to 1977, federal agencies continued working, and no federal employees were furloughed.

Dates: September 30 to October 17, 2013

After 16 years without a government shutdown, the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-held House failed to pass a funding bill due to disagreements over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In an effort to diminish the act, the House passed two funding bills that would defund portions of the program and delay its implementation by a year; however, neither was passed by the Senate.

The showdown led to over 800,000 federal workers being furloughed during budget negotiations, while pay for active-duty military members was agreed upon by the president and Congress.

After two weeks, the House passed a funding bill without restrictions for the health law.

Dates: September 30 to October 18, 1978

The longest government shutdown of the Carter presidency started on September 30, 1978, when the president vetoed a spending bill that included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a series of water public works projects, which he deemed wasteful.

The veto, added to the existing congressional disagreements over Medicaid abortion funding, led to a 17-day impasse that ended once Congress removed both the aircraft carrier and water works funding from the funding bill.

Dates: December 15, 1995, to January 6, 1996

Following the shorter, five-day shutdown on November 13, 1995, the government entered another funding gap on December 15, after a temporary funding bill expired without Congress and the president agreeing on a bill to keep the government open.

The government stood at a stalemate for 21 days, with federal agencies furloughing workers during the holiday season.

The shutdown came to an end when congressional Republicans, who had lost public support in the polls, as reported by NPR, passed a balanced budget that avoided hikes in Medicare premiums and funding cuts for federal agencies.

The government did not shut down again for 16 years.

Dates: December 21, 2018, to January 25, 2019

The longest government shutdown in US history began on December 21, 2018, after House Democrats refused to approve spending bills that provided the Trump administration with $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border, which the president had insisted on.

While clean funding bills were passed through the House and the Senate, both of which were held by Republican majorities, the president refused to approve the budgets, resulting in a 34-day stalemate.

During the nearly five weeks the government was closed, airports began experiencing flight delays as air traffic controllers and TSA workers, who were working without pay, began calling out sick en masse. TSA reported that the number of employees taking sick leave had more than doubled since the beginning of the shutdown.

The shutdown ended when the president and Congress agreed on a funding bill that didn’t include funding for the border wall.

Dates: October 1, 2025, to current

The government shut down on October 1, 2025, after Congress failed to agree on funding measures, with a key point of contention being healthcare subsidies.

Democrats refused to support a temporary funding bill passed by House Republicans that lacked protections against provisions from Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which they say would cut federal funding, expand Medicaid requirements, and reduce subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, citing increased healthcare premiums.

Federal funding expired on October 1 as both sides failed to reach an agreement.

After the Senate failed to advance an 11th funding bill on Monday, the likelihood of the shutdown ending soon remains slim.

As far as negotiations go, the stalemate appears to have no clear end in sight, even as furloughed federal workers and some employees working without pay experience a third week of uncertainty.