Timeline of more than 20 U.S. government shutdowns over nearly 50 years
The clock is ticking as Congress tries to avert a partial government shutdown after President-elect Donald Trump rejected a bipartisan deal and demanded lawmakers tackle the nation's debt ceiling before he takes office on Jan. 20.
More: Will there be a government shutdown? Live updates on the latest from Congress
Just a week before Christmas, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now scrambling to create a two-pronged plan: devise a short-term strategy that Trump would approve and get buy-in from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-majority Senate. President Joe Biden also would have to sign it into law to keep the government funded past midnight on Friday evening.
Without action from Congress, the U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown on Saturday that would interrupt funding for everything from air travel to law enforcement in the days leading up to the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers.
The longest government shutdown occurred in December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump's first term in office.
More: The Ghost of Shutdowns Past haunts latest talks to keep the federal government open
How long have U.S. government shutdowns lasted?
Over the last five decades, there have been 21 federal shutdowns:
1976: Under President Gerald Ford. Lasted for 11 days.
1977: Under President Jimmy Carter. Lasted 12 days.
1977: Under Carter. Lasted eight days.
1977: Under Carter. Lasted eight days.
1978: Under Carter. Lasted 17 days.
1979: Under Carter. Lasted 11 days.
1981: Under President Ronald Reagan. Lasted two days.
1982: Under Reagan. Lasted one day.
1982: Under Reagan. Lasted three days.
1983: Under Reagan. Lasted three days.
1984: Under Reagan. Lasted two days.
1984: Under Reagan. Lasted one day.
1986: Under Reagan. Lasted one day.
1987: Under Reagan. Lasted one day.
1990: Under George H.W. Bush. Lasted four days.
1995: Under President Bill Clinton. Lasted five days.
1996: Under Clinton. Lasted 21 days.
2013: Under President Barack Obama. Lasted 17 days.
2018: Under President Donald Trump. Lasted three days.
2018: Under Trump. Lasted several hours.
2019: Under Trump. Lasted 35 days and cost the economy about $3 billion, equal to 0.02% of GDP, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
USA TODAY's Michael Collins and Olivia Munson, Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Timeline of more than 20 US government shutdowns in nearly 50 years