Tom Daschle Looks Back At 1990s Shutdowns

In 1995 and 1996, the government shut down twice, for a total of 26 days.

During those years, it was President Bill Clinton who clashed with Republicans, led not by a freshman like Ted Cruz, but Newt Gingrich, the House Speaker at the time.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed, and the whole ordeal cost $1.4 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service.

"The whole city shut down, but at the same time, people started to appreciate what some of these things that you take for granted that weren't happening then really meant in daily life,” former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle, told Here & Now.

Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, was Senate minority leader during the shutdowns.

“It was about the budget — and that is probably the single biggest distinction. This shutdown has nothing to do with the budget. It has everything to do with the Republicans desire to use the continuing resolution and the debt limit as leverage to stop the Affordable Care Act,” Daschle said.