The 5 longest government shutdowns in history: What happened, how they ended
There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal nearly a month into fiscal...
By Fox News · Fox News
There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown , with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal nearly a month into fiscal year (FY) 2026. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed and thousands have been laid off. Certain federal services have also paused due to lack of funding. It is not the first time such a standoff has paused all or some government operations. Below is a list of the top five longest government shutdowns in U.S. history, and how they were resolved. BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN The longest government shutdown in history happened during the first Trump administration and lasted five weeks. Funding for President Donald Trump's border wall was at the heart of that dispute. Trump had refused to sign a federal spending deal that did not include money for the project, and a standalone bill with $5.7 billion was blocked by a Senate Democrat-led filibuster. Trump eventually backed a short-term federal funding measure to reopen the government on Jan. 25, 2019, and a few weeks later, Congress approved $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border fencing between the U.S. and Mexico. It was a partial shutdown, meaning lawmakers managed to strike a deal on five of 12 appropriations bills before their clock ran out. The current government shutdown is now the second-longest in history, and the longest-ever full shutdown . That means Congress was unable to strike a federal funding deal on any appropriations bills before the end of FY 2025 on Sept. 30. Republicans, who control the House and Senate, had offered a seven-week extension of FY 2025 spending levels to give lawmakers more time to hash out next fiscal year's numbers. It passed the House on Sept. 19, with support from one Democrat, but has stalled in the Senate 12 separate times. SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES Democrats ar…