The U.S. government shutdown has reached Day 20 — now officially the longest full shutdown in American history and the third-longest overall, trailing only the 35-day 2018–19 partial shutdown and the 21-day 1995–96 impasse.
In the Senate, another vote on the House-passed continuing resolution is set for Monday night — with a likely 11th failed attempt expected.
“Since the Democrats recklessly shut down the United States government, the Democrats are making some very costly history here: Don’t lose that in all that’s happening,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Monday at his daily shutdown news conference.
“This is now the third longest shutdown in history. And when you look at it carefully, it is now already the longest full shutdown of all time.
“You had an example in 2018, and you had one back in 1995 that were longer, but they were partial shutdowns because they only affected a part of the federal government. This is everything.”
A separate GOP bill to pay federal employees during the shutdown will likely come to a vote midweek, though Democrats see it as a “show vote” benefiting President Donald Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought, something they are unwilling to support, Punchbowl News reported.
Trump and Vought have vowed to continue cutting Democrat-priority programs in the federal government for as long as Senate Democrats continue to vote against reopening spending under former President Joe Biden’s levels.
Most Democrats, save for a few like Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., want to keep the government shut down to help bolster the government subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Fetterman rebuked Democrats for not taking ownership of the subsidies that expire at the end of this year by their own design.
“It’s also important for us to note this is the first time in history that any party has had the audacity to shut down the government over a totally clean, nonpartisan continuing resolution,” Johnson added at his news conference. “This is a political stunt, and it’s the first time it’s been done.
“It is the most costly, most selfish, most dangerous political stunt in the history of the United States Congress.”
Federal employees will miss their first full paycheck this week, prompting financial institutions to offer emergency loans, according to Punchbowl. Air traffic controllers may soon stop reporting for work without pay, potentially snarling air travel.
USDA loan programs for farmers and small businesses remain stalled.
Senate Republicans plan to meet with Trump on Tuesday in the nearly remodeled Rose Garden. The lunch, largely symbolic, underscores the party’s continued alignment with the White House.
With critical programs on the brink and Nov. 1 fast approaching, this week could prove pivotal in ending the historic shutdown — or cementing its place as one of the most disruptive in modern U.S. history.
Here is a ranking of the longest government shutdowns, including the partial ones, as reported by USA Today (ranked by length):
- 2019 under Trump – 35 days.
- 1996 under President Bill Clinton – 21 days.
- 2025 under Trump – 20 days.
- 1978 under President Jimmy Carter – 17 days (tied).
- 2013 under President Barack Obama – 17 days (tied).
- 1977 under Carter – 12 days.
- 1976 under President Gerald Ford – 11 days (tied).
- 1979 under Carter – 11 days (tied).
- 1977 under Carter – 8 days (tied).
- 1977 under Carter – 8 days (tied).
- 1995 under President Bill Clinton – 5 days.
- 1990 under President George H.W. Bush – 4 days.
- 2018 under Trump – 3 days (tied).
- 1982 under President Ronald Reagan – 3 days (tied).
- 1983 under Reagan – 3 days (tied).
- 1981 under Reagan – 2 days (tied).
- 1984 under Reagan – 2 days (tied).
- 1982 under Reagan – 1 day (tied).
- 1984 under Reagan – 1 day (tied).
- 1986 under Reagan – 1 day (tied).
- 1987 under Reagan – 1 day (tied).
- 2018 under Trump – several hours.
“The Senate Democrats have zero shame about this,” Johnson lamented.
“They don’t have any shame at all about the pain that they’re inflicting upon hardworking families, upon soldiers and law enforcement officers and veterans, the elderly and the disabled, women, infants, and children.
“Services to all those categories and paychecks to those folks are being stalled because Democrats are playing games today.”
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