* Data includes funding gaps that have lasted for at least one full day.
* The current budget process was established in 1976. Since then, the government has had 21 funding gaps, resulting in 11 shutdowns for various lengths of time.
* Some funding gaps after 1982 either occurred over a weekend or were too short for affected agencies to begin shutdown procedures before Congress restored funding.
* Before the 1980s, funding gaps did not usually result in government shutdowns. Agencies would continue to operate with the expectation that funding would resume in the future. But since 1982, shortly after the basis for government shutdowns was established, funding gaps have led to full or partial shutdowns more frequently.
* Bonus fact: During the 2013 shutdown which lasted 16 days, the Library of Congress canceled several concerts including Randy Newman.
USAFacts on
Yesterday, the ongoing shutdown of the US federal government became the longest in its history, reaching 35 full days (and now we’re at 36 and still counting). This surpassed the previous longest (and most recent) shutdown that lasted from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019 during President Trump’s first term, which was fueled by disputes to fund and construct a US–Mexico border wall.
Prior to that, the longest shutdown came under President Clinton (there were 2 shutdowns while he was in office, both during his first term), lasting 21 days from December 15, 1995 to January 6, 1996. Both shutdowns while Clinton was in office happened during a during a budget standoff with the Republican-controlled Congress led by Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Ghoulius-Caesar on
Man, Republicans really suck at this governing thing
-Invalid_Selection- on
Ignoring the “‘no shutdown” lines, because the government didn’t actually shut down during those, Donald Trump is responsible for over half the days the government has been shutdown in all of US history.
He’s at 69 days.
Everyone else combined is 52 days.
That puts 57% of all government shutdowns directly on Trump’s head.
uatme on
2018 being over Christmas makes it not as big as it looks in my mind
Upset-Diamond2857 on
Both longest were Trump with the Republicans controlling everything- what gives
SabresBills69 on
Thus one is worse…. the record it broke. Some agencies got funded earlier as the passed pieces if the budget. DOD was an early one.
tommyc463 on
Hmm I wonder who was the “leader” during the longest shutdowns. Who could it be? Hmmmm?
Chieftobique on
No one does shutdowns like Trump does shutdowns.
taker223 on
I wonder how many days the current shutdown would last.
Also i wonder how government employees are supposed to live with no pay?
scott__p on
SO tired of all this winning
Jermine1269 on
All shutdowns since Clinton have had Republicans in charge of the House. All but one (Obama’s in 2013) have had Republicans in charge of the Senate too.
Obama’s shutdown was because the House Republicans wanted to kill / strip away / dismantle ACA.
iguacu on
The Dealmaker™!
Who knew that being insulting, stubborn, and vitriolic didn’t lead to successful negotiations?
scriptingends on
“People are calling it the Big, Beautiful Shutdown. Nobody does shutdowns like you, President Trump, they’re saying. Obama didn’t have a shutdown like this. Dick Cheney? He’s shutdown now, it’s such a shame, and we love Dick Cheney, don’t we? But he didn’t get a shutdown like this. We’re getting numbers like we’ve never had before. A hundred and sixteenth, Five thousand and eleventy three. These are truly – *historic* numbers. Numbers that you, that make you think – *wow*, these are – historic, with regard to number.”
Deathchariot on
Incredible work DJT 👏🏻 Really delivering for the American People.
thornyRabbt on
Here’s my tangential, but very related, rant: Horrible leadership is a thing. And the saddest thing is there are so, so many managers who lead like Trump does.
Worse yet it comes from the top, and the guy at the top often pretends not to be a self-important asshole to anyone’s face.
It’s long been a rant of mine that the US has rampant bad leadership like this. We have democracy in name, and paternalistic fascism in our culture, especially in our workplaces.
It could be the same in many other countries, all I’m saying is if I could wave a magic wand, this is the one thing I would change about my country.
tenuki_ on
It’s the greatest shutdown, the best. Everyone is saying.
Trump holds all branches both terms and has the longest shutdown in history, both times.
Modern GOP cant govern.
RachGetsReddit on
I have a question… possibly a dumb one. How come this data shows all of these shutdowns happening in the last few months of the year? Is there a reason for this?
FloridaGatorMan on
Today on all conservative channels “Democrat obstruction has now caused longest shutdown in US history…”
Cantbelosingmyjob on
Remember when it was a big deal for this to even happen…
lunaticskies on
This shutdown could be longer than the rest combined.
RebelStrategist on
The “big beautiful shutdown”. “It’s the best shut down ever. That’s what everyone is saying”
Briebird44 on
Is this what MAGA means by winning?
lurkertiltheend on
We really are winning guys!!
Shiboleth17 on
At this point, everyone’s taxes should be pro-rated for only the income you earned while the government was open.
MasalaGGG2of3 on
History will not be kind to this man.
PonyPounderer on
Now add who the president was, his party, and who controlled congress and the house. If you do that you’ll actually be telling a story with data.
mrHwite on
It’s almost as if Donald Trump is not a good leader
CSWorldChamp on
Y’know, in the UK, if the parliament fails to fund the government, the Prime Minister is fired, parliament is dissolved, and new elections are held. Just sayin’.
Resident_Mulberry_24 on
Maybe he should standardize 6 weeks of leave each year like Europe does since he’s been shutting things down to avoid working. Does that Trump a socialist now? lol
Spiciest-Panini on
We should demand the clean resolution gets passed yesterday
32 Comments
Source: [US House of Representatives](https://history.house.gov/Institution/Shutdown/Government-Shutdowns/)
Tools: Datawrapper, Illustrator
Shoutout to u/CognitiveFeedback who posted a [great shutdown chart](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1opzzs2/significant_us_federal_government_shutdowns/) earlier today with political leadership layered on.
Notes:
* Data includes funding gaps that have lasted for at least one full day.
* The current budget process was established in 1976. Since then, the government has had 21 funding gaps, resulting in 11 shutdowns for various lengths of time.
* Some funding gaps after 1982 either occurred over a weekend or were too short for affected agencies to begin shutdown procedures before Congress restored funding.
* Before the 1980s, funding gaps did not usually result in government shutdowns. Agencies would continue to operate with the expectation that funding would resume in the future. But since 1982, shortly after the basis for government shutdowns was established, funding gaps have led to full or partial shutdowns more frequently.
* Bonus fact: During the 2013 shutdown which lasted 16 days, the Library of Congress canceled several concerts including Randy Newman.
Yesterday, the ongoing shutdown of the US federal government became the longest in its history, reaching 35 full days (and now we’re at 36 and still counting). This surpassed the previous longest (and most recent) shutdown that lasted from December 21, 2018 to January 25, 2019 during President Trump’s first term, which was fueled by disputes to fund and construct a US–Mexico border wall.
Prior to that, the longest shutdown came under President Clinton (there were 2 shutdowns while he was in office, both during his first term), lasting 21 days from December 15, 1995 to January 6, 1996. Both shutdowns while Clinton was in office happened during a during a budget standoff with the Republican-controlled Congress led by Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Man, Republicans really suck at this governing thing
Ignoring the “‘no shutdown” lines, because the government didn’t actually shut down during those, Donald Trump is responsible for over half the days the government has been shutdown in all of US history.
He’s at 69 days.
Everyone else combined is 52 days.
That puts 57% of all government shutdowns directly on Trump’s head.
2018 being over Christmas makes it not as big as it looks in my mind
Both longest were Trump with the Republicans controlling everything- what gives
Thus one is worse…. the record it broke. Some agencies got funded earlier as the passed pieces if the budget. DOD was an early one.
Hmm I wonder who was the “leader” during the longest shutdowns. Who could it be? Hmmmm?
No one does shutdowns like Trump does shutdowns.
I wonder how many days the current shutdown would last.
Also i wonder how government employees are supposed to live with no pay?
SO tired of all this winning
All shutdowns since Clinton have had Republicans in charge of the House. All but one (Obama’s in 2013) have had Republicans in charge of the Senate too.
Obama’s shutdown was because the House Republicans wanted to kill / strip away / dismantle ACA.
The Dealmaker™!
Who knew that being insulting, stubborn, and vitriolic didn’t lead to successful negotiations?
“People are calling it the Big, Beautiful Shutdown. Nobody does shutdowns like you, President Trump, they’re saying. Obama didn’t have a shutdown like this. Dick Cheney? He’s shutdown now, it’s such a shame, and we love Dick Cheney, don’t we? But he didn’t get a shutdown like this. We’re getting numbers like we’ve never had before. A hundred and sixteenth, Five thousand and eleventy three. These are truly – *historic* numbers. Numbers that you, that make you think – *wow*, these are – historic, with regard to number.”
Incredible work DJT 👏🏻 Really delivering for the American People.
Here’s my tangential, but very related, rant: Horrible leadership is a thing. And the saddest thing is there are so, so many managers who lead like Trump does.
Worse yet it comes from the top, and the guy at the top often pretends not to be a self-important asshole to anyone’s face.
It’s long been a rant of mine that the US has rampant bad leadership like this. We have democracy in name, and paternalistic fascism in our culture, especially in our workplaces.
It could be the same in many other countries, all I’m saying is if I could wave a magic wand, this is the one thing I would change about my country.
It’s the greatest shutdown, the best. Everyone is saying.
[I like this one better](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/KtJICMKMey) as it shows all other presidents had a split congress and *still* had shorter shutdowns.
Trump holds all branches both terms and has the longest shutdown in history, both times.
Modern GOP cant govern.
I have a question… possibly a dumb one. How come this data shows all of these shutdowns happening in the last few months of the year? Is there a reason for this?
Today on all conservative channels “Democrat obstruction has now caused longest shutdown in US history…”
Remember when it was a big deal for this to even happen…
This shutdown could be longer than the rest combined.
The “big beautiful shutdown”. “It’s the best shut down ever. That’s what everyone is saying”
Is this what MAGA means by winning?
We really are winning guys!!
At this point, everyone’s taxes should be pro-rated for only the income you earned while the government was open.
History will not be kind to this man.
Now add who the president was, his party, and who controlled congress and the house. If you do that you’ll actually be telling a story with data.
It’s almost as if Donald Trump is not a good leader
Y’know, in the UK, if the parliament fails to fund the government, the Prime Minister is fired, parliament is dissolved, and new elections are held. Just sayin’.
Maybe he should standardize 6 weeks of leave each year like Europe does since he’s been shutting things down to avoid working. Does that Trump a socialist now? lol
We should demand the clean resolution gets passed yesterday