MYSTERY WIRE — As the U.S. lawmakers try to avoid another government shutdown, it’s important to remember what a previous shutdown did to businesses and people who rely on government workers.

In 2013 the government shutdown lasted from October 1 to October 17. George Knapp traveled to just outside of Area 51 to the tiny town of Rachel, NV to see how it affected the community.

PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS

2018 – 2019
December – January: 35 Days.

2018
January: 3 days. The first shutdown under President Trump started in January after the president faced off with Congress on the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act.
February: 1 day. The second shutdown on 2018, which came in February, was resolved in a matter of hours overnight with little interruption to government operations.

2013
October: 16 days. Congressional disputes over budgets and funding the Affordable Care Act led to the only shutdown under President Barack Obama.

1995-1996
December-January: 21 days. Just a month after resolving a prior shutdown, President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich ran into a stalemate over a 7-year budget plan. Thus began the longest shutdown in U.S. history until now, which went from early December through the first week of the new year. The shutdown went on so long that museums relied on private funds to reopen, and therapists said they were getting crisis calls from out-of-work civil servants.

1995
November: 5 days. The first of two shutdowns under Clinton started over budget disputes largely centered on Medicare and environmental regulations.

1990
October: 3 days. President George H.W. Bush’s only shutdown.

1987
December: 1 day. Disagreements over funding Contras militants in Nicaragua caused one of several short shutdowns in Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Reagan, who was in office from 1981 to 1989, oversaw more shutdowns than any other president, but none lasted more than three days.

1986
October: 1 day.

1984
October: 1 day. The prior shutdown ended with a three-day funding extension, and so this one began immediately after that ran up.
September-October: 2 days.

1983
November: 3 days.

1982
December: 3 days.
October: 1 day.

1981
November: 2 days.

1979
September-October: 11 days. Abortion funding was the biggest budget dispute that led to one of several lengthy shutdowns during President Jimmy Carter’s single term, from 1977 to 1981.

1978
September-October: 17 days. Carter was president during what would be the longest shutdown on record for nearly two decades.

1977
November-December: 8 days. An 8-day shutdown that started three weeks after another 8-day shutdown ended.
October-November: 8 days.
September-October: 12 days.