(Washington) – The US government has begun a federal shutdown after the Senate failed to agree on a new budget.
Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes, the BBC reported.
The shutdown, coming one year to the day after President Donald Trump took office, is the first ever to happen while the same party, the Republicans, controls Congress and the White House.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed, and a wide range of government programmes will be affected as federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not allocated money to fund them.
But essential services will still run. These include national security, postal services, air traffic control, inpatient medical services, emergency outpatient medicine, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity generation.
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”.
“Every American knows the Republican Party controls the White House, the Senate, the House. It’s their job to keep the government open,” he said.
The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night to extend funding until next month, but the measure failed to pass the Senate.
The last US shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted for 16 days, during which many federal employees took a forced leave of absence.
