2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown
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Interest in “2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-07-21.
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Key Takeaways
- From December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019, the United States federal government entered a shutdown.
- It occurred when the 115th Congress and Trump could not agree on an appropriations bill to fund the operations of the federal government for the 2019 fiscal year, or a temporary continuing resolution that could extend the deadline for passing a bill.
- As a result, nine executive departments with around 800,000 employees had to shut down partially or in full, affecting about a quarter of government activities and causing employees to be furloughed or required to work without being paid.
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Source summary
WikipediaFrom December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019, the United States federal government entered a shutdown. It was the second and final federal government shutdown involving furloughs during the first presidency of Donald Trump. It occurred when the 115th Congress and Trump could not agree on an appropriations bill to fund the operations of the federal government for the 2019 fiscal year, or a temporary continuing resolution that could extend the deadline for passing a bill. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal departments or agencies from conducting non-essential operations without appropriations legislation in place. As a result, nine executive departments with around 800,000 employees had to shut down partially or in full, affecting about a quarter of government activities and causing employees to be furloughed or required to work without being paid. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the shutdown cost the American economy at least $11 billion USD, excluding indirect costs that were difficult to quantify.
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