By the Numbers: The Longest Partial Government Shutdown

0

The number of other democratic governments that have shutdowns. Most avoid this sort of gridlock by requiring a simple majority to pass a budget.

6

The number of departments that had full funding and are not affected. They are Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Labor and Veterans Affairs.

8

The number of shutdowns during the Reagan administration, which is the record. However, none lasted more than three days. Before the current shutdown, the Clinton administration held the record of 21 days.

9

The number of federal departments affected by the shutdown because their funding had not been approved when the shutdown went into effect at midnight Dec. 22. Those departments are Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury.

1947

The year the Taft-Hartley Act was passed, which made it illegal for federal employees to strike. The idea behind its passage was to prevent key government employees from disrupting government services in an effort to secure higher wages. Its authors probably never envisioned a situation in which employees might want to strike because they are not being paid. The American Federation of Government Employees has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration for illegally keeping workers on the job without pay. The federation won a similar lawsuit regarding the 2013 government shutdown, and affected workers won twice the amount of what was owed them. Estimates from that shutdown – a 16-day standoff on the Affordable Care Act – found that $2.5 billion in pay and benefits was paid to furloughed workers for hours not worked, as well as $10 million in penalty interest payments and lost fee collections.

1974

The year the Congressional Budget Act was passed, creating the Congressional Budget Office as a way for Congress to gain more control of the budget while President Nixon was embroiled in the Watergate scandal. The act reduced the powers of the president’s Office of Management and Budget.

25,000

The number of daily visits to the National Air and Space Museum when it is not closed due to the shutdown.

380,000

The number of federal employees furloughed during the shutdown because their jobs are not considered essential.

420,000

The number of federal employees whose work is considered essential, which means they are working without pay.

500,000

The estimated number of federal contractors also being affected by the shutdown.

800,000

The approximate number of employees in the nine affected departments.

$1.2 billion

The estimated cost to the gross domestic product for each week of the shutdown, according to S&P Global Ratings. That amounts to $7.1 billion as the shutdown passes its first month.

Source:  Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, vox.com