Everything you need to know about the last government shutdown

The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday amid a Capitol Hill impasse over competing congressional spending bills. It comes nearly seven years after the previous time the government went dark.

The last federal shutdown ran for 35 days, from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019, making it the longest closure in U.S. history. At the time, the Senate had failed to pass a funding bill that included $5.7 billion requested by President Donald Trump to help construct the U.S. southern border wall.

This shutdown beat the previous record under President Bill Clinton when he vetoed a Republican budget proposal to give control of Medicaid to the states, shutting the government down for 21 days in 1995 and 1996.

The closure in 2018 and 2019 was a partial shutdown, where Congress approved funding for certain agencies, allowing them to stay open as other federal departments closed.

A full government shutdown occurred in 2013 under President Barack Obama when almost half of non-postal federal employees were furloughed, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

There have also been a handful of funding gaps in U.S. history where the federal government failed to pass a funding bill over a weekend or in a short time frame that did not affect the government.

The last shutdown in 2019 cost the United States an estimated $3 billion in lost GDP, as 300,000 federal workers were furloughed and unpaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The report released by the CBO says the shutdown "delayed approximately $18 billion in federal discretionary spending for compensation and purchases of goods and services and suspended some federal services."

Furthermore, approximately $6 billion was withheld from employees who worked during the shutdown, but received backpay when the government reopened, according to the report.

The 2019 shutdown ended when Trump signed legislation that provided funding again for the government.

During a federal government shutdown, numerous federal agencies and services shutter, including national parks, museums, research projects and certain IRS taxpayer services, according to Congress. Essential services like military, law enforcement, the postal service and air traffic control remain open, according to the White House.

During this time, essential service workers will work without pay but will receive backpay after the shutdown ends, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

The current budget process was established in 1976, and there have been 10 shutdowns since.