The partial government shutdown became the longest in U.S. history Saturday. It started December 22 and passed the record of 21 days which was set in 1995 and 1996.
Currently the shutdown is on day 22. It began when a short-term resolution to government funding expired on December 21. The focal point of this battle is $5 billion in funding that President Trump is looking for in order to build the wall.
The 22-day partial government shutdown became the longest shutdown in United States history, breaking a record from 1996 on Saturday. https://t.co/Gh3YMmdXHC pic.twitter.com/PmqkSlV1ja
— ABC News (@ABC) January 12, 2019
There are 800,000 federal employees who missed their first paychecks Friday. According to a press release from the Senate Appropriations Committee, over 420,000 essential federal employees will be expected to work without pay.
The previous record of 21 days happened between December 16, 1995 and January 6, 1996. The issue at hand was when former President Bill Clinton refused to cut spending and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich refused to raise the debt ceiling.
At this point the Trump administration still does not hold the record for most days shutdown during a 365-day period. The Jimmy Carter administration was shutdown for a total of 28 days in 1977.
There is no end in sight, though that can change quickly. President Trump teased his ability to declare emergency powers to get funding for the border wall, but as of now his administration is still trying to work out a deal with the congressional Democrats.
