US government shutdown to carry a $400M price tag? A look at longest, costliest shutdowns in history
The US government has shut down, and it could result in millions of dollars in costs. Here's what the past shutdowns in US history tell us.
Washington has spiralled into a moment of uncertainty as hundreds and thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, and many essential workers are going to work without pay. All this is because the US government has shut down.
But this is not the first time the US government has shut down. The shutdown, which came into effect on 1 October 2025, is the 15th US government shutdown since 1981. These shutdowns have cost the US government and taxpayers millions of dollars.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned that nearly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed and that the total daily cost of their compensation would be roughly $400 million.
Here we list all the US government shutdowns in the past, mention the longest one and the cost of these US government shutdowns:
What is the longest US government shutdown ever? Key facts
1. The longest US government shutdown in history lasted 35 days in 2018, under US President Donald Trump's first term. It ended in January 2019. In Trump's first term, two comparatively brief shutdowns occurred during FY2018, in January and February 2018.
2. The second-longest shutdown was in December 1995 under the Bill Clinton administration. It lasted 21 days.
3. During Barack Obama's presidency, a shutdown lasted 16 days, and between 1982 and 1987, four government shutdowns lasted just one day each.
4. Jimmy Carter holds the record for the “total number of government shutdown days”. Trump might hold the record for the longest continuous government shutdown, but President Jimmy Carter managed to rack up 56 days of government shutdowns during his single term, between 1977 and 1981.
5. President Ronald Reagan led with the most government shutdowns. He had eight government shutdowns between 1981 and 1987, taking the crown from Carter for having the most. However, unlike Carter, most of Reagan’s shutdowns lasted just one day.
Under Presidents Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and Ronald Reagan, a Republican, there were short shutdowns almost every year. The longest was in 1978, for 17 days.
It is not yet known how long the current shutdown will last.
There were no government shutdowns during George W. Bush's two terms or during Joe Biden's one term.
How much does the US government shutdown cost?
1981 under Ronald Reagan administration: $8.1 million
The cost to the government of the 1981 partial shutdown of government offices was roughly estimated to be $8.1 million. In a statement, the Comptroller General of the United States said, “The fragmented agency responses to our questions totalled $8.1 million for closing down the Government on November 23, 1981.”
December 1995 under Bill Clinton: $700 million
In a report dated December 6, 1995, it was stated that, "We spent $700 million of taxpayers' money and got no work out of it, no return from the Federal employees who were furloughed, all of whom wanted to be at work performing their jobs; none of them wanted to be getting paid for doing nothing, but 800,000 were sent home."
It also noted, “As recent news reports have stated, the cost of the November [1995] shut-down was in excess of $700 million.”
October 2013 under Barack Obama: $6.6 million
Independent forecasters had estimated that the shutdown might "lower fourth quarter real GDP growth by 0.2-0.6 percentage points, or $2-$6 billion in lost output".
Besides, during the 16-day shutdown, Federal government employees were furloughed for a combined total of 6.6 million days, the report added.
Moreover, Moody's Analytics estimated that the 2013 full government shutdown reduced GDP growth by $20 billion, as per a report by Joint Economic Committee Democrats.
December 2018-January 2019: $3 billion
It cost the United States an estimated $3 billion in lost GDP, according to the CBO.
The CBO estimated that the five-week partial government shutdown in 2018-2019 reduced economic output by $11 billion in the following two quarters—including $3 billion that the US economy never regained.
Productivity lost between 2014 and 2019
A Staff Report by Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 2019 revealed that the government shutdowns between 2014 and 2019 cost the taxpayers nearly $4 billion — "at least $3.7 billion in back pay to federal workers, and at least $338 million in other costs associated with the shutdowns, including extra administrative work, lost revenue, and late fees on interest payments".