The Government is Back After the Longest Shutdown in History
Image Courtesy of NPR
By Luis Zonenberg
For the longest time in the history of the United States, the government remained shut down for approximately 43 days. This beats the most recent government shutdown from 2018-2019, which lasted for 35 days. The most recent government shutdown began on October 1, 2025 when Congress failed to break a stalemate over funding negotiations. This came as a result of expiring tax credits that would make health insurance cheaper for Americans, which the Republicans wished to extend.
A typical government shutdown usually occurs when Congress fails to pass a bill or the President refuses to sign one to fund the federal government’s operations. This results in a funding gap that causes several government functions to be temporarily disrupted and are often resolved by Congress passing continuing resolutions. Continuing resolutions only provide short-term funding while negotiations for a more long-term solution continue on.
Since Congress introduced the modern budget process in 1976, there have been over 20 “funding gaps”, but all of these usually lasted for only a few days. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, there have been “five true shutdowns”, including the one which just occurred this year. The first two shutdowns occurred in the winter of 1995-1996, when President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were unable to agree on spending levels. The third and fourth shutdowns occurred in 2013 and 2018-2019 respectively.
To pass a spending bill in the Senate, the Republicans typically need at least 60 votes for it to go through. NPR reports that the Democrats were using this as leverage to push for an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies which expire at the end of this year, which potentially could have left millions of Americans without healthcare. For the majority of the shutdown’s time, both parties were merely pointing fingers at each other and were doing little (publicly at least) to officially reopen the government.
This government shutdown created a whole slew of problems which greatly affected the American population. Over 1 million federal workers were working without any incoming paychecks with another 600,000 individuals furloughed. The IRS also furloughed nearly half of its entire workforce, creating delays in taxpayer services. This threatened tens of thousands low-income families to start losing access to the Head of Start program which provides childhood education, food and services to infants and toddlers.
All Smithsonian museums were forced to close down as well, with National Parks slowly reducing operations until they were forced to also close down. Nearby airports across the country faced all sorts of dilemmas, with air traffic control shortages causing numerous delays. On November 7, 2025, the BBC reported that over 5,000 flights were either cancelled or delayed as a result of new mandates that forced airlines to reduce air traffic. To manage the staffing shortages, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order that mandated a 4% cut to all flights.
Amidst all the chaos the shutdown inflicted on the American population and their economy, it finally came to an end after 43 grueling days. The most recent bill passed by Congress and signed by Trump will continue to fund the government at least until January 30, 2026. The bill also tries to rectify the numerous firings and loss of pay to federal workers while also providing funding for increased security for members of Congress, judges and the Supreme Court justices. This still remains a temporary solution but thankfully a sense of normalcy can return, even if for a little while.
