There have been 17 government shutdowns in the United States.
Posted by The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict1 support4 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 50%
The Daily Show: Ears EditionAug 28, 2026
The 17 figure matches a 2013 Washington Post count of 'so-called shutdowns' since 1976, which American Progress disputed as inflated by six pre-1980 funding gaps that were not true shutdowns.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
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What was said
… I was sitting there going, wait a second, he's making the case for the Republicans. This sounds pretty good. Maybe I'm just one of the few people. I'm just not, this doesn't impact me mentally. I we've had 17 government shutdowns, Governor. I'm not afraid of a couple of weeks of government being shut down. How can it be if it doesn't personally impact John Hannity? I mean, it's not like they shut down Smith and Wilensky for private events. …
The Daily Show: Ears Edition · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. American Progress (2013) states there have not been 17 government shutdowns, because that count includes six pre-1980 episodes that were not shutdowns after the Civiletti opinion.[3]
Contradicts. Al Jazeera (2025) reports 20 funding gaps resulting in 10 shutdowns since 1976, and Wikipedia reports 11 funding gaps leading to furloughs, which are well below 17 under a shutdown definition.[4][5]
Supports. The Byrd Center (2013) reports that the Washington Post counted 17 so-called shutdowns since 1976, with the 2013 crisis being the 18th.[6]
Context. Counts of funding gaps are higher: NYT (2023) reports 21 gaps since 1976, and USA Today (2025) reports 22 federal shutdowns over five decades. The CRS (2026) and House Historian (2026) pages describe funding gaps and full or partial shutdowns, with the total depending on whether partial lapses are included.[1][2][7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 2 primary, 5 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Past Government Shutdownscongress.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 2Funding Gaps and Shutdowns in the Federal Governmenthistory.house.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Then and Now: The Truth About Government Shutdownsamericanprogress.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4A history of US government shutdowns: Every closure and ...aljazeera.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Government shutdowns in the United States - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6Senator Byrd’s Observations on the Last Big Government Shutdownbyrdcenter.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7A List of the Longest Government Shutdowns in U.S. Historynytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 8Timeline of US government shutdowns over last 50 yearsusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post