The United States has a long, painful history of threatened and real governmental shutdowns that often goes forgotten or overlooked as successive administrations grapple with a long-standing budget impasse. Over the years, both Republicans and Democrats have threatened shutdowns and wound up making them real as each party has tried to make its case for a budget proposal and attempts to gain political leverage.
One of the most well-known shutdowns in recent history occurred in 1995 and 1996, when Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich clashing with Democratic President Bill Clinton over budget cuts led to multiple shutdowns. Then, in 2013, a 16-day shutdown occurred as a result of a partisan deadlock between President Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner.
More recently, the longest ever government shutdown took place in the United States in 2018. This could have been avoided had both parties come to a compromise. Unfortunately, a lack of collaboration resulted in a 34-day government shutdown. With no agreement between the two sides, certain government services, such as passport processing, were suspended; hundreds of thousands of government workers had their pay stopped and federal agencies, like the National Parks Service, were shut down.
Not only does a government shutdown create severe disruptions for both businesses and citizens in the United States, it also has an effect on the global economy. This was seen in 2018, when the shutdown led to a 0.2 percent point hit to U.S. GDP in the fourth quarter of the year.
The lessons of past shutdowns have gone largely unlearned in the United States. To avoid a long-term shutdown, the parties must come together and compromise on a budget agreement. This can be easier said than done, of course, but it is the only way to avoid the immense disruption and damage that a long-term shutdown brings with it.
