The partial government shutdown that started Dec. 22 became the longest in U.S. history Saturday, after surpassing the record set by a 21-day shutdown in 1995 and 1996.
From Daily Caller:
The current shutdown is on day 22 and was triggered after a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government expired on Dec. 21. At the center of the funding battle is approximately $5 billion in funding for the border wall that President Donald Trump wants to build.
The shutdown affects roughly 800,000 federal employees, who missed their first paychecks Friday. A press release from the Senate Appropriations Committee estimated more than 420,000 essential federal employees would be expected to work without pay.
This shutdown has now surpassed a previous one that began Dec. 16, 1995 and ended Jan. 6, 1996. The 21-day funding gap occurred when former President Bill Clinton refused to cut spending and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich declined to raise the debt ceiling, according to USA Today.
Clinton won out according to most accounts by submitting a seven-year balanced budget plan. Gingrich was ridiculed by the media when he said he had been willing to shut down the government twice in 1995 because he felt he had been disrespected during a trip on Air Force One.
But the Trump administration does not hold the record for most days of shutdown in a 365-day period. That one belongs to former President Jimmy Carter’s administration. There were three shutdowns that added up to a total of 28 days in 1977, when Carter was president.
