Government Shutdown Looms: Budget Standstill Halts Parks and Museums

A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Congress forced the federal government into a partial shutdown beginning November 14, 1995, closing national parks and museums, furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers, and reducing most remaining government offices to skeleton staffs. The dispute centered on a Republican demand, led by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, for a balanced budget within seven years that included significant cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, education, and environmental programs. President Bill Clinton refused to accept the Republican terms, arguing that the cuts were too deep and would harm vulnerable Americans. Gingrich made the tactical decision to force the issue by refusing to pass a continuing resolution, betting that public anger over the shutdown would fall on Clinton. The gamble failed spectacularly. Polls showed that voters blamed the Republican Congress by a margin of roughly two to one, and Gingrich damaged his own credibility when he told reporters that he had made the budget fight more contentious partly because Clinton had made him exit Air Force One through the rear door during a trip to attend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's funeral. The first shutdown lasted five days before a temporary agreement was reached, but a second, longer shutdown followed from December 16, 1995, to January 6, 1996, lasting twenty-one days and becoming the longest in U.S. history at that time. Clinton's approval ratings rose during the crisis, and the episode is widely credited with securing his reelection in 1996.