The idea of a government shutdown is a quirk of American history. Scroll through our timeline for a look back in time at government shutdowns. Read full coverag...
1981-1990: Playing chicken Republican Ronald Reagan moved into the White House in January 1981 with a promise to cut taxes and shrink government, setting up a showdown with Democrats who ran the House.
High noon came early on Monday, Nov. 23, 1981.
The government had technically been without money all weekend, but Congress approved emergency spending to keep it running. That morning, Reagan wielded his first veto. He was making a stand against "budget-busting policies," the president declared, sending confused federal workers streaming out of offices in Washington and across the nation.
It was the first government shutdown. But it lasted only hours. By that afternoon, Congress approved a three-week spending extension more to Reagan's liking. Workers returned Tuesday morning. The estimated cost: more than $80 million.
The pattern was set. Over his two terms, Reagan and congressional Democrats would regularly argue to the brink of shutdown, and twice more they sent workers home for a half-day.
President George H.W. Bush used the tactic only once, during the budget wrangling that punctured his "no new taxes" pledge.
Shutdown threats were becoming ho-hum, just more Washington games.