The United States government officially shut down at midnight after Congress and the White House failed to agree on an extension of federal funding.
Although President Donald Trump's Republican Party controls both houses of Congress, 60 votes are needed to pass a bill in the Senate. The two sides failed to hammer out a bipartisan deal, with the Senate rejecting both the Republican and Democratic proposals just hours before the deadline.
This is the first government shutdown since 2018, during Trump's first term, when the crisis lasted 34 days - the longest in American history. There is currently no clear path to a resolution, as both parties remain deeply divided in their positions.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will remain without pay for the duration of the crisis. About 750,000 employees will be furloughed each day, while others in essential services – such as Transportation Security Agents, air traffic controllers, law enforcement officers and members of the military – will be forced to work without pay.
Federal law guarantees that they will receive back pay once the government reopens, even for the time they were not working. The cost of compensating the suspended employees is expected to reach about $400 million.
Photo by TaYYaB mIrZa: https://www.pexels.com/photo/capitol-in-washington-dc-24376267/
