Congress has until the end of September to fund the government. With about a week to spare, here are the options: Meet the deadline, pass a stopgap bill, or shut down. But when budget showdowns reach shutdowns, there is a significant taxpayer cost. Here are five times politicians shut down the government in this week’s Five For Friday:
#5: 1986
President Ronald Reagan was in the White House for eight government shutdowns. But the October 1986 shutdown will go down as one of the shortest in history. Democrats, which held a majority in the House of Representatives, were holding out for a vote on welfare expansion, but Republicans in the Senate didn’t budge. Roughly 500,000 federal workers were furloughed for about four hours, which ended up costing $61 million in lost work.
#4: 1981
Prior to 1981, failing to fund the government wouldn’t stop agencies from operating. So, this is the first government shutdown in the current sense of the term. President Reagan demanded $8.4 billion in spending cuts and promised to veto any bill that didn’t meet at least half of that threshold. House Democrats fell $2 billion short of Reagan’s target. As a result, 241,000 federal employees were shut down from working for two days and it cost U.S. taxpayers $80-$90 million.
#3: 1995-1996
Back-to-back shutdowns stretched from 1995 into 1996, with President Bill Clinton facing off with a Republican-controlled House and Senate. Clinton refused to sign any spending bill with “sharp hikes in Medicare premiums.” And an apparent snub of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) on Air Force One didn’t help the situation. The initial five-day shutdown resulted in a 30-day continuing resolution, but the two sides failed to come to terms at the end of the 30 days, and the government shut down again. In the end, 284,000 employees were furloughed for a total of 26 days, and it cost taxpayers $1.4 billion.
#2: 2018-2019
President Donald Trump was in the White House for the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Trump demanded $5 billion in funding for a wall at the southern border, and Congress wouldn’t pony up. A 35-day shutdown spanning 2018-2019 ensued, with 800,000 federal employees furloughed. The Congressional Budget Office said it cost the U.S. economy $11 billion.
It also resulted in some iconic moments. With White House chefs furloughed, President Trump served Clemson’s National Championship football team a fast-food feast. The government eventually reopened when the new Congress took over at the start of the year, and Democrats passed a spending bill without funding for the wall.
#1: 2013
President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare legislation was at the center of the 16-day shutdown of 2013. Some conservatives in Congress refused to sign on to a funding bill that didn’t delay or defund the Affordable Care Act, which created the stalemate. Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) reading of Green Eggs and Ham on the Senate floor was part of the proceedings. Eventually, Republican House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) passed a funding bill that left Obamacare intact. Around 850,000 federal employees were furloughed, and S&P says the shutdown cost the U.S. $24 billion.
