How many government shutdowns occurred in the United States since 1995?

1. What the different claims actually say — extracting the competing assertions

The provided analyses advance several competing tallies. One account notes 10 shutdowns since 1976 and 20 funding gaps overall, without specifying the post‑1995 share ^[4]. Another narrative counts 15 funding gaps since the 1980–81 Civiletti opinions and highlights four broadly disruptive gaps, but it doesn't give a clean post‑1995 shutdown total ^[5]. A third set of items asserts a clear list of shutdowns after 1995 — two in 1995–96, one in 2013, two in 2018–19, and a 2025 shutdown — yielding six shutdowns since 1995 ^[1]. Elsewhere, summaries cite 14 shutdowns since 1980 or suggest the U.S. has seen 21–22 shutdowns over five decades, implying different inclusions for short gaps and partial closures ^{[2] [6] [3]}.

2. How timelines and definitions drive the conflicting numbers

The divergence in counts stems from differences in methodology: whether sources count every funding lapse, only those that caused broad government disruption, partial versus full shutdowns, or whether they start counting at 1976, 1980, or another benchmark. Some sources treat the Civiletti opinions (1980–81) as a turning point that makes post‑opinion lapses read like shutdowns, tallying 15 funding gaps since then ^[5]. Others provide a running chronology that lists individual high‑impact closures — producing the cleaner figure of six shutdowns since 1995 — but still acknowledge many shorter funding gaps or technical lapses that do not result in the large‑scale furloughs seen in 2013 and 2018‑19 ^[1]. The result is apparent contradiction rooted in definitional choice ^{[4] [7]}.

3. Cross‑checking the high‑impact shutdowns after 1995 — consensus points

Across the materials there is substantive agreement about the major, high‑impact shutdowns after 1995: the two Clinton‑era closures in late 1995 and early 1996; the 16‑day Affordable Care Act‑era shutdown in October 2013; the January 2018 and December 2018–January 2019 shutdowns tied to immigration and border‑wall funding; and the October 1, 2025 shutdown noted as ongoing in the supplied files. Counting those events produces six clearly disruptive shutdowns since 1995, a figure consistently presented in the chronological summaries ^{[1] [2]}. This six‑event list is the most defensible answer when the user asks about shutdowns that materially disrupted federal operations.

4. Why some sources report higher totals — short gaps and historical framing

Sources that report larger totals — e.g., 10, 14, 21–22 shutdowns — are aggregating brief funding gaps, partial agency lapses, or every fiscal‑year funding lapse since the 1970s or 1980s ^{[4] [6] [3]}. The House‑committee style tables and long timelines count any lapse that required legal or managerial response; the Civiletti opinions reclassified many short funding gaps as partial shutdown events. Political narratives may also inflate or compress counts depending on whether the speaker wants to emphasize frequency or severity. The analyst must therefore pick a consistent standard: counting only shutdowns that led to large‑scale furloughs and public disruption gives the six‑event post‑1995 tally ^{[5] [1]}.

5. The bottom line — a precise, defensible statement and open caveats

The most defensible answer to “How many government shutdowns occurred in the United States since 1995?” is six major shutdowns: two in 1995–96, one in 2013, two in 2018–19, and one beginning October 1, 2025 ^{[1] [3]}. That figure excludes numerous brief funding lapses and partial interruptions that other tallies include, which is why some sources report higher totals (10–22) depending on whether every funding gap or only major furlough‑causing shutdowns are counted ^{[4] [6]}. If you need a specific, source‑anchored list of dates and durations for each counted event, I can produce a concise chronology tied to the provided sources.