--- title: This Is Now the Third-Longest Government Shutdown in History description: As of Monday, the federal government has been partially shut down for 16 days, tying for the third-longest shutdown in U.S. history. canonical: https://time.com/5494109/shutdown-third-longest-us-history/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-07T11:46:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:19:15.984Z article:section: Politics og:title: This Is Now the Third-Longest Government Shutdown in U.S. History og:description: The longest shutdown took place in 1995-1996 og:url: https://time.com/5494109/shutdown-third-longest-us-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fb7a796b4a93e3b/698942aeb21a9c05884ffd50/donald-trump-government-shutdown-third-longest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5561 og:image:height: 3128 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is Now the Third-Longest Government Shutdown in U.S. History twitter:description: The longest shutdown took place in 1995-1996 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fb7a796b4a93e3b/698942aeb21a9c05884ffd50/donald-trump-government-shutdown-third-longest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is Now the Third-Longest Government Shutdown in U.S. History > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6befbd40-4697-49db-b013-7a7fe0ddb8d6&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why Trump Is Dragging Out the Shutdown — Even Though It's Unpopular [Watch (HLS stream): Why Trump Is Dragging Out the Shutdown — Even Though It's Unpopular](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ftjJTqAc.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2019-01-07. The first rule of government shutdowns: blame the other side._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 7, 2019 11:46 AM UTC The first rule of government shutdowns: blame the other side. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 7, 2019 11:46 AM UTC As of Monday, the federal government has been [partially shut down](http://time.com/5486113/goverment-shutdown-effects/) for 16 days, making it tied for the third-longest shutdown in U.S. history. The other shutdown that lasted 16 days took place from Oct. 1, 2013 to Oct. 17, 2013\. There have been 21 government shutdowns since Congress began using the modern budgeting process in 1976\. Some of them have lasted just a few days, or even a few hours — as was the case of the shutdown last February—and haven’t really affected government operations. But when shutdowns take place during normal workdays, they mean that government functions largely grind to a halt and federal employees are furloughed or, if they’re deemed “essential,” forced to work without pay. The government is supposed to be funded through an annual process that involves Congress passing 12 appropriations bills to fund all the different government agencies. If this process is not completed by the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, the government partially or completely shuts down. Congress can avoid a shutdown by passing continuing resolutions that let agencies keep spending at their current levels, but lawmakers don’t always reach a deal in time. The current shutdown started on Dec. 22 after talks broke down between Congressional leaders and the White House. The officials failed to come to a compromise on a spending deal that [President Donald Trump demanded](http://time.com/5489927/donald-trump-shutdown-logic/) include [money for his wall](http://time.com/5492255/trump-pushes-for-wall-amid-shutdown/) on the U.S.-Mexico border. Most of the government was already funded, so this is a partial shutdown, but it has affected nine federal departments as well as other agencies, totaling about 800,000 federal workers. More than half of those have been forced to work without pay throughout the shutdown, with the other half furloughed. The weeks-long shutdown left some workers in a tough position over the holiday season, and has continued to [affect millions of Americans](http://time.com/5492953/government-shutdown-effects/) as large chunks of the government have remained closed into January. The only shutdowns that have lasted longer than the current one took place in 1978 and 1995-1996\. The 1978 shutdown, during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, lasted 18 days. This shutdown took place after Carter vetoed public works legislation and a defense spending bill that included a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier because he considered them wasteful. The grand record holder came when President Bill Clinton clashed with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich over domestic spending cuts, and it lasted 21 days from Dec. 16, 1995 to Jan. 6, 1996\. If the current shutdown extends until Saturday, it will tie the Clinton-era shutdown for the longest in American history. ## Transcript The first rule of government shutdowns. Blame the other side. The Democrats. The Democrats. Totally up to the Democrats. Call it a Democrat shutdown. Call it whatever you want. Since shutdowns became a political tactic in the 1970's, presidents and congressional leaders have attempted to shift the blame for a shutdown onto their opponents. Now here's the bottom line. Democrats are rooting for government shutdown. But President Donald Trump upended that logic. In the summer of 2018 he began saying that he would be willing to shut down the government over immigration policy. [ MUSIC ] So I would have no problem doing a shutdown. It's time we had proper border security. He went further as the December shutdown loomed. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not gonna blame you for it. The last time you shut it down it didn't work. I will take the mantel of shutting down. That's created a problem for Trump now that the government is partially shut down however. Trump has tried to use the typical playbook and blame Democrats. We're in a shutdown because Democrats refuse to fund the border security. But there are just too many old videos and tweets and him saying he wanted to shut down the government for that to work. 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