The United States federal government
shutdown from midnight
EST on December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019 (35 days)
was the longest government shutdown in history[1][2] and the second[a] and final federal government shutdown involving furloughs during the presidency of Donald Trump. It occurred when the
115th Congress and Trump could not agree on an
appropriations bill to fund the operations of the federal government for the
2019 fiscal year, or a temporary
continuing resolution that would extend the deadline for passing a bill. The
Antideficiency Act prohibits federal departments or agencies from conducting non-essential operations without appropriations legislation in place. As a result, nine
executive departments with around 800,000 employees had to shut down partially or in full, affecting about one-fourth of government activities and causing employees to be furloughed or required to work without being paid.
[3] The
Congressional Budget Office estimated the shutdown cost the American economy at least $11 billion
USD, excluding indirect costs that were difficult to quantify.
[4]
The shutdown stemmed from an impasse over Trump's demand for $5.7 billion in federal funds for a U.S.–Mexico border wall.[5][6][7] In December 2018, the
Senate unanimously passed an appropriations bill without wall funding, and the bill appeared likely to be approved by the Republican-controlled
House of Representatives and Trump. After Trump faced heavy criticism from some
right-wing media outlets and pundits for appearing to back down on his campaign promise to "
build the wall", he announced that he would not sign any appropriations bill that did not fund its construction. As a result, the House passed a stopgap bill with funding for the wall, but it was blocked in the Senate by the threat of a Democratic
filibuster.
[8]
