WASHINGTON — As Congress races against the deadline to avert a federal government shutdown, lawmakers are confronting echoes of the last shutdown and longest funding lapse in U.S. history — a 35-day impasse during President Donald Trump’s first term.

If Congress fails to act before midnight, it would mark the first shutdown since the record-breaking 2018-19 closure.

The last government shutdown stretched from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019, lasting 35 days and eclipsing the previous record of 21 days set during the Clinton administration in 1995-96. The partial shutdown idled roughly 380,000 federal workers and forced an additional 420,000 employees deemed essential to work without pay.

The 2018-19 shutdown centered on a dispute over funding for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump had demanded $5.7 billion for the project, while congressional Democrats refused to include the funding in appropriations bills. The standoff paralyzed much of the federal government through the holiday season and into the new year.

Federal workers began showing up at food banks as the shutdown dragged on, and many essential employees called in sick, unable to afford transportation to work without paychecks. The shutdown finally ended when Congress passed a continuing resolution that reopened the government without providing the border wall funds Trump had sought.

Prior to 2018-2019, the longest government shutdowns stretched from 11 to 21 days:

The second-longest shutdown in U.S. history lasted from Dec. 16, 1995, to Jan. 6, 1996, during the Clinton administration. The impasse followed a dispute between President Bill Clinton and Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich over proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other programs. Clinton vetoed the Republican spending bill, triggering a brief shutdown in November 1995 before the longer closure began in December.

A shutdown lasting from Sept. 30 to Oct. 18, 1978, stemmed from multiple disputes during the Carter administration. President Jimmy Carter vetoed a defense appropriations bill that included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, calling it wasteful. He also rejected a public works bill containing water projects. Disagreements over Medicaid funding for abortion further complicated negotiations. The shutdown ended when Carter signed revised bills that excluded the aircraft carrier and maintained existing abortion funding restrictions.

The Oct. 1-17, 2013, shutdown occurred after House Republicans passed a continuing resolution that would have defunded the Affordable Care Act. The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected the measure, and the two chambers failed to reach agreement before the Sept. 30 deadline. President Barack Obama signed legislation ending the shutdown on Oct. 17. The closure had minimal effect on the health care law’s implementation because most of its funding came from mandatory spending accounts.

A Sept. 30-Oct. 13, 1977, shutdown resulted from disagreement over Medicaid abortion funding despite Democratic control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. The House sought to continue restrictions limiting federal abortion funding to cases where the mother’s life was endangered, while the Senate wanted to include exceptions for rape and incest. The House position prevailed temporarily, but the dispute led to two additional eight-day shutdowns later that year before a compromise was reached in December.

The Sept. 30-Oct. 12, 1979, shutdown again centered on abortion funding restrictions during the Carter presidency. The House wanted to limit Medicaid abortion funding only to cases where the mother’s life was in danger and also sought a pay increase for members of Congress and senior civil servants, which the Senate opposed. The final agreement included the congressional pay raise and allowed abortion funding in cases of rape and incest.

Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over government funding as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches. Congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting Monday having made little progress toward a deal.

Democrats and Republicans are in a stalemate over health care funding and spending. Congress angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stood to be furloughed or laid off.

Republicans have proposed extending government funding at current levels until Nov. 21, but Democrats are seeking to tie any funding measure to an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025.

Without congressional action, government funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Anything deemed nonessential would be put on hold, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers would go without pay. Key services like Social Security payments and military operations would continue.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.