As of early Wednesday morning, the federal government entered a shutdown as the House and Senate were unable to reach a spending deal by 12:01 a.m.

The last shutdown began on Dec. 22, 2018, and lasted until Jan. 25, 2019, and was the longest government shutdown in more than 40 years.

While government shutdowns are less common in recent decades than they were in the 1970s and ’80s, an increasingly divided and partisan Congress has led to many last minute deals over the last several years. In March, the Senate passed a deal just hours before a shutdown deadline and President Donald Trump signed the bill into law shortly after.

Shutdowns generally only last a few days while Congress hammers out an agreement, but prolonged lapses tend to impact many different areas of life for Americans acr

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