Changes

The first recorded shutdown occurred on May 1, 1980 during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. The shutdown lasted one day and only affected the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The critical event that not only created this shutdown but allowed others to emerge later was Benjamin Civiletti's decision (Figure 1), who was the US Attorney General, to interpret that the Antideficiency Act of 1884 indicated that if an agency of the government does not have sufficient funds to continue its required function then that part of government would need to furlough its workers. Initially, it was interpreted that agencies of the US government could continue working without sufficient funds , and fund employees by having the government borrow, and that workers could even be paid until the appropriations could be obtained. Thus, a dispute over the appropriation and oversight of the FTC on the economy in Congress forced the agency to shutdown for one day. Although brief, this produced an important precedentthat arguably affected later shutdowns. <ref>For more on the origins of the 1980 shutdown and its long-term consequences, see: Bacon, D. C., Davidson, R. H., & Keller, M. (Eds.). (1995). <i>The encyclopedia of the United States Congress</i>. New York: Simon & Schuster, pg. 149.</ref>

Between 1981-1986, three government shutdowns occurred, none of which lasted more than 24 hours. These shutdowns resulted due to Regan's vetos of different appropriations sent to him by Congress. In all of these cases, Ronald Regan had wanted to make more significant cuts to the appropriations of different departments and agencies. The furloughs were shortlived but affected now hundreds of thousands of federal employees. Shutdowns now became a distinct feature of American politics. This was also significant as now appropriations began to increasingly be seen as part of partisan tactics and ideologies. Economists had estimated even these short shutdowns affected the economy in the 10s of millions due to their disruption on the wider economy.<ref>For more on shutdowns during the Regan years, see: Meyers, R. T. (1997). Late Appropriations and Government Shutdowns: Frequency, Causes, Consequences, and Remedies. <i>Public Budgeting & Finance</i>, 17(3), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5850.01107 </ref>