Operation Citizen · Source notes · September 5, 2026

What shutdowns interrupted

This reading edition presents the supporting record, including dates, limits and open questions. It preserves the recorded findings; a source note is not a certification that every claim is settled.

  1. Event
    2018–2019 partial shutdown
    Fiscal year
    2019
    Source
    Open source
    Source date
    2019-01-28
    Evidence type
    Contemporaneous model estimate, not an audited final loss
    Metrics
    MeasureBillionsUnitMeaning
    Delayed federal discretionary spending18dollarsCompensation and purchases delayed; not permanently lost GDP
    Q4 2018 real GDP reduction32019 dollarsRelative to estimated no-shutdown output
    Q1 2019 real GDP reduction82019 dollarsIncludes estimated resumption effects
    GDP not expected to be recovered32019 dollarsPart of the combined $11 billion quarterly shortfall, not additional to it
    Limits
    Considerable uncertainty. Excludes some indirect permit, certification and lending effects. National totals do not measure any individual household loss.
  2. Event
    October 2013 shutdown
    Fiscal year
    2014
    Source
    Open source
    Source date
    2014-10-15
    Public release
    2014-11-14
    Evidence type
    GAO review of selected DOE, HHS and DOT activities
    Effects
    ProgramEffectLimit
    NIH clinical-trial registryNew registrations initially stopped; a small recalled staff reopened the registry.Does not establish that all clinical trials stopped.
    NIH grant reviewReview of more than 13,700 applications was rescheduled; NIH met the next January 2014 milestone.Most current recipients could still draw funds.
    DOE Environmental ManagementMore than 1,700 contractor employees were laid off or required to take leave after stop-work orders.Contract activity generally continued using multiyear funding; some programs reported four months to recover.
    Merchant Marine AcademyClosure required an academic-calendar change to allow eligible students to graduate on time.Longer-term effects cannot readily be separated from other budget events.
    Follow through
    GAO recommendation to record lessons learned marked closed–implemented; OMB changed Circular A-11 in June 2015. This records procedural follow-through, not proof that future harms were prevented.