What is 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown?

It was a 35-day partial shutdown of the US federal government that began on December 22nd, 2018 over funding for President Trump's southern border wall and became the longest shutdown in American history.

Where did 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown come from?

It started after the House passed a spending bill on December 20th, 2018 with more than $5 billion for the border wall while the Senate had already approved a clean version, leaving no deal before the midnight deadline.

What does 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown mean?

Online, it points to the whole cluster of shutdown-era moments, from 800,000 furloughed or unpaid federal workers to viral park damage and TSA line photos, treated as a shared internet event.

How do you use 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown?

People typically cite it with the Clemson White House fast-food buffet photo, the ATL airport TSA tweet, or the Oval Office "I will be the one to shut it down" clip whenever a new budget standoff kicks off.

Is 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown still popular?

It is a classic reference point rather than an active meme, still pulled up in political threads as the record-length shutdown that ended on January 25th, 2019 when Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks without wall funding.

2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown

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Published August 15, 2026

The 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown was a 35-day funding lapse triggered by a fight over border wall money that became a viral online story, spawning Reddit threads, TSA line memes, and the fast-food White House dinner for the Clemson Tigers.

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Overview

The 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown started on December 22nd, 2018 after Congress and President Donald Trump could not agree on a spending package that included roughly $5 billion for a southern border wall1. Nine federal departments partially or fully closed, and around 800,000 workers were either furloughed or forced to work without pay2.

Beyond being a policy fight, the shutdown turned into a running online story. Reddit threads, viral tweets, cable news clips and one very odd White House fast-food buffet made the 35-day lapse into a shared internet event, with each new absurdity feeding the next news cycle3.

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Origin & Background

Platform

News media / Reddit (viral spread)

Date

2018

On December 11th, 2018, Trump met with incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a televised Oval Office exchange where he said, "I am proud to shut down the government for border security. I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down"3.

On December 20th, 2018, the House passed a 217-185 temporary spending bill containing more than $5 billion for the border barrier, but the Senate had already approved a clean bill without wall funding, setting up a funding lapse at midnight on December 21st1. The partial shutdown began the next day and, as of January 16th, 2019, became the longest in American history3.

How It Spread

The shutdown quickly took over Reddit, with threads on r/AdviceAnimals, r/News, r/politics, r/reactiongifs, r/space and r/pics each clearing 45,000 points3. On January 12th, 2019, Redditor EridanusVoid posted a photo of Vietnam veteran Franklin Davis sweeping the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during the shutdown, which pulled in more than 144,000 points and 3,800 comments in four days3.

Real-world side effects also went viral. The National Park Service kept many parks partially open with no staffing, leading to viral photos of overflowing trash and reports of vandals cutting down Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park, prompting the National Park Foundation to launch a repair fundraising drive2. TSA absences pushed airport security lines to record lengths, and on January 14th CNN's Omar Jimenez 4 tweeted a video from Atlanta's ATL airport calling it the longest security line he had ever seen, racking up more than 8,000 retweets and 14,000 likes in two days.

The most-mocked shutdown moment came on January 14th, 2019, when Trump hosted the national champion Clemson Tigers at the White House with a buffet of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and pizza, saying he was personally paying because much of the residence staff was furloughed5. On January 25th, 2019, Trump agreed to a three-week reopening deal with no wall money, a move commentators like Ann Coulter and Mike Cernovich, plus QAnon posters flagged by Twitter user @rothschildmd 6, framed as a cave3.

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How to Use This Meme

As a meme reference, the 2018 2019 United States Government Shutdown is typically invoked as shorthand for political dysfunction and viral shutdown imagery. Posters often bring up the Clemson fast-food photo, the ATL TSA line tweet, or the "I will be the one to shut it down" clip when a new shutdown fight starts, using them as reaction images or quote-tweets in political threads5.