The 5 longest government shutdowns in U.S. history

Published January 30, 2018

WASHINGTON - You've probably been hearing a lot about government shutdowns lately… but do you know the history of shutdowns?

There have been 19 shutdowns since the current process through which Congress appropriates funds for the operation of government agencies was introduced in 1976. Most of them happened over the course of a single weekend, but there have been five shutdowns longer than 10 days: