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1976-2013
Since 1976 there has been 17 government shutdowns. -
HEWdown
In 1976, the major budget conflict was because Gerald Ford vetoed a funding bill for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare (or HEW, today split into the Departments of Education and of Health and Human Services). Congress overrode Ford's veto Oct. 1. The spending bills took effect, but it wasn't until Oct. 11 that the partial shutdown ended. -
The Abortion Shutdown
The House continued the ban on using Medicaid dollars to pay for abortions except in cases where the life of the mother was at stake. The Senate wanted to include allowances for abortions in the case of rape or incest or when the mother's health was in danger. The issue had become tied to funding for Labor and HEW. Failure to come to an agreement led agencies to have a funding gap until Oct. 13. The Medicaid ban was continued until Oct. 31 and the shutdown ended, to allow more time to negotiate. -
The Abortion Shutdown II
Not enough time had elapsed since the temporary measure ending the shutdown passed for the abortion standoff to be resolved. Another temporary bill was signed by Carter to allow for more time for Congress to resolve its abortion chaos until Nov. 9, 1977. -
The Abortion Shutdown III
The second temporary measure ending a shutdown, meant to allow more time for negotiation, didn't last long enough. The House rejected a Senate proposal that would have allowed for Medicaid to pay for abortions by victims of statutory rape. House conservatives rejected it as too lax and House liberals as too tough on rape victims. A deal which allowed Medicaid to pay for abortions was widened, and the shutdown ended on Dec. 9, 1977. -
Carter vs. The Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier
Congress passed a defense bill which funded a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Carter vetoed it and a public works appropriations bill because of water projects that he considered wasteful. Additionally, spending for HEW was delayed, once again, over a dispute concerning funding for abortion. A new defense bill was passed, along with the previous year's abortion plan. The shutdown ended on Oct. 18, 1978 -
Higher Pay Vs. Fewer Abortions
The House wanted to raise congressional and senior civil servant pay by 5.5 percent, but the Senate opposed. The lower house also wanted to limit federal abortion spending, while the Senate wanted to keep funding. The dispute was not resolved before a partial shutdown that lasted until Oct. 12, 1979. The House got pay increases, but had to allow abortion funding that was a bit tighter than the previous year's compromise. -
Reagan's Shutdown
Reagan promised to veto any spending bill that didn't include at least half of his proposed $8.4 billion in domestic budget cuts. The Senate passed a bill that met his specifications, but the House insisted on both greater defense cuts than Reagan wanted and pay raises for itself and for senior-level federal civil servants. Eventually, the House and Senate agreed to and passed a package that fell $2 billion short of the cuts Reagan wanted, so Reagan vetoed it and shut down until Nov. 23, 1981. -
The Pointless Shutdown
The new fiscal year started and Congress just hadn't passed new spending in time. There were some disagreements over spending levels between the House and Senate and the administration, the reason the former didn't pass the bill before a shutdown was because they had other plans. The shutdown only lasted a day. -
Nuclear Missle Shutdown
House and Senate negotiators wanted to fund $5.4 billion and $1.2 billion in public works spending to create jobs. The Reagan administration threatened to veto any spending bill that included jobs money. The House also opposed funding the MX missile program, huge defense priority of Reagan's. The shutdown ended on Dec. 21, 1982 after a compromise that Reagan criticized. -
Isreal Missile Shutdown
Democrats passed an amendment adding close to $1 billion in education spending, and also cut foreign aid below what Reagan wanted, adding money for Israel and Egypt but cutting it for Syria and El Salvador, and cut defense spending by about $11 billion of Reagan's request. The dispute wasn't resolved before a 3 day shutdown. -
Another Reagan Shutdown
Passage of a spending bill was complicated by the House linking it to a crime-fighting package and a water projects package. The Senate tied it to a civil rights measure that would have reversed a Supreme Court ruling weakening civil rights requirements on universities receiving federal funds. Reagan offered to forgo his crime bill in exchange for junking the water package and the civil rights provision, but the deal followed a 2-day shutdown. -
Another Reagan Shutdown Part II
The previous 3-day extension wasn't enough, so another 1 day shutdown occured. -
Welfare Expansion Shutdown
The brief shutdown followed several disagreements between Reagan and the House, including a ban from creating subsidiaries to get around labor contracts, another requiring that half the goods and labor used in offshore oil rigs be American in origin, and one that would have expanded Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which is what welfare was known as at the time. All of those were policies supported by House Democrats and opposed by Reagan, so a 1-day shutdown occured -
Contra Shutdown
Reagan and congressional Democrats could not agree on funding for the Nicaraguan "Contra" militants in time to avoid a shutdown. Additionally, Democrats pushed for a provision reinstating the "Fairness Doctrine," which required that broadcasters give equal airing to both sides in political disputes, and which the FCC had recently stopped enforcing at the time. The shutdown lasted one day. -
Bush's Planless Shutdown
Bush refused to sign any continuing resolution into law unless it was paired with a deficit reduction plan. He backed up the pledge by vetoing one that made it to his desk, and the House failed to override his veto and the conflict was not resolved before a shutdown. -
Clinton vs. Gingrich
The GOP-run Congress sent Clinton a continuing resolution that would have raised Medicare premiums, committed the president to balance the budget within seven years, and curtailed environmental regulations, among other provisions. He vetoed it, triggering a shutdown. -
Clinton vs. Gingrich II
Republican leaders demanded that the White House propose a seven-year budget plan that balanced when using the CBO's economic forecasts, rather than the OMB's, which were more optimistic. The plan Clinton proposed still produced a $115 billion deficit in seven years according to CBO numbers, even as the OMB estimated that it would balance the budget by then. The dispute was not resolved before the continuing resolution agreed to a month earlier (see previous entry) expired.
