High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996 was the result of conflicts between Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Congress over funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and public health. The government shut down after Clinton vetoed the spending bill the Republican-controlled Congress sent him. The federal government of the United States put non-essential government workers on furlough and suspended non-essential services from November 14 through November 19, 1995 and from December 16, 1995 to January 6, 1996. The major players were President Bill Clinton and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.