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It’s Official: Trump Produces the Longest Government Shutdown Ever

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This weekend the Trump-generated government shutdown will become the longest ever, passing the 1995-96 incident. At present the only path for a reopened federal government is a national emergency declaration full of legal and political pitfalls.
Up until now, the longest government shutdown in U. S. history was the 21-day standoff between President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress led by Speaker Newt Gingrich that ran from December 16,1995 to January 6,1996. It revolved around big, consequential differences in policy views about the size, cost and priorities of the federal government, and produced a backlash to the Republican Revolution of 1994, ultimately resulting in Clinton’s fairly easy 1996 reelection. Plenty of people, including furloughed government employees, were unhappy about the shutdown. But nobody much called it “stupid,” other than those who interpreted Gingrich’s stubbornness to pique over being dissed by Clinton during a trip on Air Force One.
The House broke for the weekend Friday, all but ensuring that the partial government shutdown would become the longest in U. S. history, while President Trump continued his efforts to sway public opinion on the need for a U. S.-Mexico border wall.
As of early Friday afternoon, there were no signs of serious negotiations underway, and leaders of both chambers announced no plans to meet before Monday.
The Democratic-controlled House has been busy passing appropriations bill to reopen various shuttered portions of the federal government which the Republican-controlled Senate has is refusing to take up.

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