A government shutdown is all but assured to begin at midnight tonight. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
The last time the government shut down was in 2018-2019. That 35-day shutdown was the longest in history.
The Trump administration will determine which agencies and services are essential. For instance, those in the military, national security and intelligence personnel remain on the job.
Lawmakers must be paid, under the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is seen in the U.S. Capitol before entering the office of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, engineered the 2013 shutdown over repealing Obamacare. Obamacare remains the law of the land. Cruz won reelection in 2018. Democrats didn’t flip the House in the 2014 midterms as Republicans expanded their majority, and the GOP gained control of the Senate.
The 2018-2019 shutdown started even before the House and Senate swore in freshmen elected in the 2018 midterms. So divining a political impact from that particular shutdown is challenging. A host of other factors — including the COVID-19 pandemic — were much bigger than the shutdown by the time we got to November 2020. Trump lost reelection that year. Democrats maintained control of the House in 2020. And Democrats narrowly flipped the Senate.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/users-manual-likely-government-shutdown-tonight