US shutdown begins as Senate fails to pass budget

The US government has begun a federal shutdown after the Senate failed to agree on a new budget, the BBC reported today.

Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the Bill to fund the government until 16 February did not receive the required 60 votes.

It is the first shutdown ever to happen while the same party, the Republicans, controls Congress and the White House.

In response, the White House accused Democrats of holding “lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands”.

“They put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans”, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

But Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said President Donald Trump had turned down two bipartisan compromise deals and “did not press his party in Congress”.

It was unclear which way the vote would go as the midnight deadline approached, with Republicans and Democrats split on key issues.

The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night to extend funding until next month, but the measure failed to pass the Senate by a margin of 50-49.

Five Republicans voted against the Bill while five Democrats broke ranks to support it.

The last US shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted for 16 days, during which many federal employees took a forced leave of absence.

Many government offices will close as federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not allocated money to fund them. </s> US federal agencies had to cease their operations after the Congress failed to pass a bipartisan budget deal. This is the second time within three weeks that US government agencies had to put their work on a halt as a result of the disagreement over the budget deal. On January 18, the funding proposal to avert a government shutdown failed in the Senate.

Twitter users have rushed to the social media platform in order to comment on the second US government shutdown, with many commenting on the move by Republican Senator Rand Paul, who demanded a vote on an amendment to the spending bill that would keep caps on federal spending, which is expected to rise by a total of $300 billion over two years.

READ MORE: 'Risky Territory Here': US Gov't Shuts Down Again as Congress Misses Deadline

Many Netizens have criticized the Republicans and the US president over the second shutdown since Donald Trump had assumed office.

Some have pointed to the different media coverage by US media outlets.

Other Twitter users, however, seemed to find the fun side in the development. </s> US Government shuts down for second time in 2018 as Congress misses deadline

The US Senate has approved a budget deal hours after the Government went into shutdown for the second time this year.

The Senate's passing of the budget and a stopgap funding package means the plan will now go to the House of Representatives, where politicians are divided along party lines and passage was uncertain.

The scrambling to secure a deal comes hours after the federal shutdown began, in an embarrassing setback for the Republican-controlled Congress.

A three-day shutdown of the federal government began last month on the anniversary of the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump, who played little role in attempts by party leaders earlier this week to head it off and end months of fiscal squabbling.

House Republican leaders had offered assurances that the package would be approved, but so did Senate leaders and the critical midnight deadline, when current government funding authority expired, was still missed.

The reason for that was a nine-hour, on-again, off-again Senate floor speech by Kentucky Republican senator Rand Paul, who objected to deficit spending in the bill.

The unexpected turn of events dragged the Senate proceedings into the wee hours and underscored the persistent inability of Congress and Mr Trump to deal efficiently with Washington's most basic fiscal obligations of keeping the Government open.

The US Office of Personnel Management advised millions of federal employees shortly after midnight to check with their agencies about whether they should report to work on Friday.

If the House acts before daybreak to approve the package from the Senate, there would be no practical interruption in federal government business.

If it does not, the result would be an actual shutdown.

Mr Paul said during his marathon speech, which strained fellow senators' patience, that the two-year budget deal would "loot the Treasury".

The proposed bill would raise military and domestic spending by almost $US300 billion over the next two years.

With no offsets in the form of other spending cuts or new tax revenues, that additional spending would be financed by borrowed money.

The bill is also opposed by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi because Republican House leaders will not guarantee her that they will allow a debate later on about taking steps to protect about 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation.

The budget bill would not only stave off a shutdown, but would extend the Government's debt ceiling until March 2019.

That step alone would help reduce uncertainty in the US financial markets. </s> Image copyright Reuters Image caption Nearly 700,000 employees could be sent home without pay

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are waking up in the US, unable to work because of a government shutdown.

The US Senate has failed to reach a temporary budget deal to keep it open.

Some employees will not be paid until the stalemate is resolved.

A vote will take place at noon in Washington (17:00 GMT) on whether to re-open government. Immigration remains one of the main sticking points between Republicans and Democrats.

Democrats have refused to back a temporary budget deal until their concerns on immigration reform are dealt with.

Essential federal services are still running across the country, but non-essential workers are not required to report to work.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Government workers on what happens during a shutdown

Why has the government shut down?

At midnight on Friday, lawmakers failed to agree on a spending bill. The bill was not a plan for funding for the whole of 2018, but would have kept things running until the middle of next month.

Efforts to reach a compromise ahead of the working week failed in a rare Senate session late on Sunday.

A vote to end the shutdown was postponed until midday on Monday, meaning many federal government offices will not open as the shutdown enters its third day.

Under Senate rules, the bill needs 60 votes in the 100-member chamber.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Donald Trump's shutdown voicemail

There are 50 Republican senators who are present and able to vote in the upper chamber on Monday, but at least 10 Democrats are needed to pass a budget.

Republican Senator John McCain is away from Washington to receive cancer treatment.

Democrats want President Trump to negotiate over immigration as part of a budget deal, but Republicans say no agreement is possible while federal government services are closed.

Republicans want funding for border security - including a proposed border wall with Mexico - and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending.

On Saturday, Mr Trump said the "nuclear option" of a simple majority vote was necessary to end the impasse.

More on Trump's first year

What does a shutdown mean?

It means no pay for those federal employees who are "furloughed" - on unpaid leave - even though their workplaces are not open.

The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days.

It cost the government $2bn in lost productivity and led to "significant negative effects on the economy", the OMB said at the time.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Free coffee for federal workers near the White House during the shutdown

After the 2013 shutdown, Congress passed a bill ensuring employees who were on unpaid leave received pay cheques for the time they missed. However, receiving pay is not guaranteed this time as Congress would have to approve it again.

The shutdown began on the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration. His trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has also been called into question.

What's closed and what's open?

Most staff in the departments of housing, environment, education and commerce will be staying at home on Monday. Half of workers in the treasury, health, defence and transportation departments will also not be going to work.

But essential services that protect "life or human property" will continue, including national security, postal services, air traffic control, some medical services, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity generation.

And the Trump administration said it planned to keep national parks open - their closure in the 2013 shutdown provoked an angry public reaction.

However, many rangers and staffers will not go into work.

The Statue of Liberty was closed on Sunday but the governor of New York said he will use state funds to keep the historic landmark open from Monday.

However, Independence Hall which is home to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, will be closed along with other national landmarks.

The defence department issued guidance saying that all military active duty personnel will continue to work without pay.

Other closures include:

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will discontinue routine establishment inspections and other food safety activities during the shutdown

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will cease operations of disease prevention programs but will continue to respond to seasonal influenza outbreaks

Why can the two sides not agree?

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Americans are singularly unimpressed"

This is the first time a government shutdown has happened while one party, the Republicans, controls both Congress and the White House.

Friday's vote fell 50-49, far short of the 60 needed to advance the bill. This is due to a number of key disagreements.

Democrats have demanded protection from deportation of more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children.

"I hope it is just a matter of hours or days. But we need to have a substantive answer, and the only person who can lead us to that is President Trump. This is his shutdown," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told the CBS network on Saturday.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The missing - consequences of Trump's immigration crackdown

But Vice-President Mike Pence reiterated his party's stance in a speech to US troops in the Middle East on Sunday.

"We're not going to reopen negotiations on illegal immigration until they reopen the government and give you, our soldiers and your families, the benefits and wages you've earned," he said. </s> The United States House of Representatives has passed a budget deal early on Friday following approval by the Senate, thus putting an end to a brief government shutdown caused by a senator who delayed the bill so it would miss the funding deadline.

The lower chamber of Congress passed the measure in a 240-186 vote, with some Democratic Party members joining Republicans to pass the measure.

The $300-billion bill, which directs a funding increase for defense and domestic expenditures, was now set to head to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature, in order for the government's reopening to come into effect.

Republican Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky had filibustered a resolution to avert the shutdown on Thursday, arguing that his party was becoming complicit in deficit spending and describing it as the very definition of hypocrisy. </s> US Govt Shutdown Begins as Senate Fails to Pass New Budget

The US government has shut down for the first time since 2013 after Congress failed to resolve a partisan standoff over immigration and spending.

In a late-night vote, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have kept the government running for another four weeks.

A flurry of last-minute negotiations failed to beat the deadline.

Democrats have tried to use the Friday night funding deadline to win concessions from Republicans, including an extension of an Obama-era program protecting some young immigrants from deportation.

The program is set to expire in March. Republicans sought more time for talks, but Democrats refused.

The shutdown is only the fourth government closure in 25 years. It will only partially curb government operations. Uniformed service members, health inspectors, and law enforcement officers are set to work without pay.

After hours of closed-door meetings and phone calls, the Senate scheduled its late-night vote on a House-passed plan.

It gained 50 votes to proceed to 49 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster. A handful of red-state Democrats crossed the aisle to support the measure, rather than take a politically risky vote. Four Republicans voted in opposition.

In an unusual move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed the roll call to exceed 90 minutes – instead of the usual 20 or so – and run past midnight, seemingly accommodating the numerous discussions among leaders and other lawmakers.

Still as midnight passed and the calendar turned, there was no obvious off-ramp to the political stalemate.

Even before the vote, Mr Trump was pessimistic, tweeting that Democrats actually wanted the shutdown “to help diminish the success” of the tax bill he and fellow Republicans pushed through last month.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders later termed the Democrats “obstructionist losers” in a tweet sent from the White House’s official account.

Since the closure began at the start of a weekend, many of the immediate effects will be muted for most Americans.

But any damage could build quickly if the closure is prolonged.

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This post was syndicated from SIGNAL. Click here to read the full text on the original website. </s> In the wee hours of the morning, the House of Representatives voted to approve a major budget package following a brief, overnight government shutdown.

The $400 billion spending bill was sent to President Trump who signed it Friday morning, ending the brief shutdown.

The budget agreement will set spending for programs for the next two years — if they stick to it. Under the short-term agreement approved early Friday, the government is funded for another six weeks to give lawmakers time to craft a budget plan. If they don't have something long-term in place by then, the country could be in shutdown mode again in March.

The passage of the plan followed a dramatic night on Capitol Hill, where Democrats fought for some sort of promise for protections for Dreamers, the roughly 800,000 immigrants who were illegally brought into the U.S. as minors. Republicans had a problem with the amount of spending.

And while the Senate needed to move fast Thursday night to pass the package, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., effectively delayed the vote until after midnight, causing the government to briefly shut down – for the second time already this year.

Disagreements over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), led to a three-day government shutdown on Jan 20.

Fox News asked Marc Goldwein, senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget – a bipartisan, nonprofit organization that educates the public on fiscal policy issues – to explain a government shutdown, and he answered seven basic questions about the process that Americans should know.

A shutdown occurs when Congress and the president fail to sign into law 12 appropriations bills (which determine spending for specific government agencies) in order to continue providing funding for government operations.

How can you prevent a government shutdown?

To avoid a shutdown, members of Congress can give themselves an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR). The temporary funding measure keeps the federal government open and allows lawmakers more time to negotiate the remaining appropriations bills.

“The bar for a CR is pretty low. You’re not agreeing to anything new politically; it’s a no-brainer,” Goldwein told Fox News.

That’s exactly how the government has been operating since Oct. 1.

Funding has been extended three times since then. The House and Senate approved a temporary spending bill on Jan 22, and Trump signed the measure to keep the government funded through Feb. 8.

How long does a government shutdown last?

As long as it takes. Congressional leaders from both parties have to reach an agreement to fund the government.

It usually takes a weekend for this to happen.

“We’re talking days or weeks – not months,” Goldwein said.

The federal government would be forced to shut down “nonessential services." Who would be affected?

"Essential staff at top level agencies would continue working, but most federal employees whose jobs aren’t vital would likely be sent home," Goldwein said.

For example, those who work at national parks, monuments and museums would be told to go home.

"It doesn’t feel awesome to be told you’re not an essential employee. It's a little demoralizing to go home because you’re not important," Goldwein added.

In the 2013 shutdown, roughly 850,000 employees were furloughed per day, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

But not everyone is required to take unpaid leave.

The president, presidential appointees and members of Congress are exempt. The Postal Service, the TSA and Air Traffic Control will also continue business as usual.

Americans will still be able to get their Social Security and Medicare benefits and food stamps. However, people expecting VA benefits, unemployment benefits, farm subsidies and tax refunds may experience delays.

Do federal employees still get paid?

Most likely. The problem: They're not sure when they'll get their money.

"Everyone loses from the government shutdown. An employee loses their paycheck at the time he or she needs it," Goldwein said. "Ultimately, we’re going to fund it anyway. It’s kind of silly."

Federal employees typically receive back pay shortly upon their return, though, Goldwein says, nothing is certain. Every agency has their own contingency plan in the event of a shutdown.

How many times has the government shut down?

The government has shut down 20 times since 1976, the year Congress introduced the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s research. Half of the shutdowns occurred over a weekend.

“Before 1980, the government didn’t really shut down,” Goldwein explained. “A lot of others were over the course of weekends. I call them ‘fake shutdowns.’”

Goldwein says there have really only been three significant government shutdowns in the history of the U.S.

Two occurred during the Clinton administration in the winter of 1995 to 1996. Former President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds and shut the government down for a total of 26 days, Goldwein said.

The third occurred during the Obama administration in 2013, when a stalemate between the House and Senate led to a 16-day hiatus.

How much money can the country lose during a shutdown?

The 16-day government shutdown in 2013 cost the country $24 billion of lost economic activity, according to an analysis from ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

"The payroll cost of furloughed employee salaries alone – that is, the lost productivity of furloughed workers – was $2.0 billion," the Office of Management and Budget reported in 2013.

Goldwein says shutdowns "waste money" more than they "cost money."

"We’re not going to spend more money. We’re just going to spend it on worse stuff," he explained. "Instead of paying employees to work, we’re paying them not to work."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> A bipartisan group of negotiators has reached across the aisle to finalise an agreement to reopen the US federal government almost 60 hours after it first shut down. On Monday afternoon, the Senate passed a short-term spending bill after voting to end debates by a vote of 81-18, with the measure sent to the President for his signature shortly thereafter, laying the groundwork for the government's reopening by Monday evening. The bill was set to fund the government until 8 February and ... </s> WASHINGTON, D.C. - America is in the midst of a partial government shutdown in the middle of holiday season, because a funding bill hasn’t passed.

President Donald Trump wants Democrats in the Senate to approve his $5.7 billion demand for U.S.-Mexico border wall money. However, Democrats are unwilling to endorse it.

Wondering what happens during a partial shutdown? Here’s what you should know.

[RELATED: Partial government shutdown in effect after lawmakers fail to reach deal]

A government shutdown happens when Congress does not pass funding bills or the president fails to sign them before the previous appropriations run out.

However, the nation currently is headed toward a partial shutdown since Congress has already funded about 75 percent of the federal government through September 2019.

How long would the shutdown last?

If the funding bill doesn’t pass, the shutdown would start Saturday. It would last until both the House and Senate come to an agreement, and the president signs it.

What departments would be impacted?

Nine out of 15 federal departments will close or reduce operations, according to a fact sheet released by the Democratic staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Here’s a list:

What happens to federal employees?

More than 420,000 government workers are expected to work without pay if a partial shutdown occurs, according to the fact sheet.

That would include more than 41,000 federal law enforcement and correctional officers, 88 percent of employees at the Department of Homeland Security and thousands of Customs and Border Protection agents and customs officers.

More than 380,000 federal employees would be placed on furlough, or sent home without pay.

That would include the majority of the staff at NASA, the National Park Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as about 52,000 IRS workers.
The United States federal government shuts down after the United States Senate fails to pass a budget bill.