For subscribers
Shutdowns, Obamacare and the risks of bargaining for policy wins in a crisis
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The current federal shutdown is looking to eclipse the one in 2019, which lasted 35 days and was the longest in US history.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Carl Hulse
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – The last time Obamacare was at the centre of a federal shutdown, with lawmakers seeking to use the leverage of a government funding deadline to get their way on the health insurance programme, it did not end well for them.
It was 2013, and conservative Republicans in the House and Senate pushed their leaders to block legislation to extend government spending unless it also repealed the Affordable Care Act.
