Once again, we have a federal government shutdown that may run for weeks. Although the Senate is in town, the House won’t return until Oct. 14 , two months after Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly adjourned to avoid a vote on the Jeffrey Epstein files.

We know the drill: one party or the other, earlier Republicans, lately Democrats, deny the necessary votes to keep things running. Many federal employees are furloughed while others work without pay, with public services disrupted the longer shutdowns continue.

Though there have been, officially, 21 previous shutdowns, starting in 1976 with the Ford administration, only three have been truly consequential, in 1995, 2013, and 2018.

The first was orchestrated by House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who engineered a full takeover of Congress in 1994 by

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