Government Shutdowns Seem to Keep Getting Longer, but What's the Longest One?

Every day that a deal is not reached, the 2025 government shutdown gets closer to the history books. Given the fact that our current shutdown has lasted so long, and President Trump has claimed some new powers during this time, many want to better understand what the longest shutdown in the country's history was.

Government shutdowns have occurred with more and more frequency in recent years. Here's what we know about how long the longest one lasted.

The longest government shutdown happened from 2018 to 2019, and lasted a total of 35 days. That shutdown was also during Trump's time in office, and was actually the second time the government shut down during Trump's first term. It was over a dispute about funding for Trump's border wall, and notably, it came after Democrats had won control of the House in the 2018 midterms a month before.

That shutdown ultimately concluded when both sides agreed to fund the government for three weeks while they continued to work on an appropriations bill. At the time, reporting suggested that part of the reason a deal was struck was that both sides were feeling pressure to come to an agreement after air traffic controllers stopped showing up for work, leading to flight delays across the country.

The previous record for longest shutdown was 21 days, and that came in 1995–1996, when Bill Clinton was president. The shutdown occurred after Clinton rejected funding proposals made by Congressional Republicans, who controlled both chambers of Congress. Of course, there have been many shutdowns in the years since, but this 21-day shutdown is now just the third longest in history, as the 2025 shutdown has surpassed it.

Although we're only on day 22 of this government shutdown as of this writing, it's difficult to predict when or if this shutdown will end before it breaks the record. The way the longest recorded shutdown ended is an important reminder that the effects of a shutdown sometimes take a minute to make their way out into the world. Once those effects start to feel more real, and people are flying for the holidays, it could pressure both sides to come to the table.

Per CBS, both Democrats and Republicans seem to be fairly dug in at the moment. Democrats asked to meet with the president to negotiate their demands on healthcare, but the president rebuffed their request, saying that he would only meet with Democrats after the government had reopened. Senate Republicans also met with the president and confirmed that they would not be giving in to Democratic demands.

This shutdown could break the all-time record, or it could fall short, but it's difficult to say at this point which is more likely. Both sides in these fights always feel deeply dug in until, often quite suddenly, they aren't anymore. What's perhaps most remarkable about this shutdown, though, is that it doesn't feel like a particularly chaotic time in Washington.