How the US can shut down but other countries can’t Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Towards the end of every year the countdown until the United States government goes into a shutdown begins. Congress and the President usually avoid it in the last hour, but sometimes they don’t manage to agree on a spending bill and the government actually shuts down. The US is really the only country that does this. The longest one in history, in 2019, lasted 35 days. Federal workers — and many contractors — didn’t get a paycheck for 35 days. Some of those employees were furloughed, meaning they didn’t have to go into work, but more than half of them still had to go into the office unpaid. So… why? It goes back to the Constitution and how the federal government funds its agencies. We talk to a law professor and workers who have been through a shutdown to explain. Read more about solutions to government shutdowns on Vox: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144504/government-shutdown-continuing-resolution-automatic Or get into the details of the previous shutdowns: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RS20348.pdf The Washington Post did some great reporting on the affect the 2019 shutdown had on contractors, specifically: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/contractors-shutdown/ And learn more about the most recent time Belgium didn’t have a formed government: https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/124777/belgium-breaks-own-record-for-longest-period-without-government/ Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com/ Make sure you never miss behind the scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter, sign up here: http://vox.com/video-newsletter Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: http://vox.com/contribute-now Shop the Vox merch store: vox.com/store Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://facebook.com/vox Follow Vox on Twitter: http://twitter.com/voxdotcom Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom