 They were restored by the passage of a temporary spending bill a few days later, but on December 16, 1995, the federal government again shut down, this time for a period of 21 days.Ultimately, Newt Gingrich and the Republican-controlled Congress bore much of the political fallout for the shutdown, vindicating Penn's polling.During President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, Penn used the mall tests he developed for AT&T to test presidential campaign ads.