{"id":393306,"date":"2018-01-20T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-20T07:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=393306"},"modified":"2018-01-20T11:49:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-20T11:49:34","slug":"us-shutdown-begins-senate-fails-pass-new-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/01\/us-shutdown-begins-senate-fails-pass-new-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"US shutdown begins as Senate fails to pass new budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
The US government has begun a federal shutdown after the Senate failed to agree on a new budget.<\/p>\n
Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until 16 February did not receive the required 60 votes.<\/p>\n
It is the first shutdown ever to happen while the same party, the Republicans, controls Congress and the White House.<\/p>\n
In response, the White House accused Democrats of holding “lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands”.<\/p>\n
“They put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans”, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
It was unclear which way the vote would go as the midnight deadline approached, with Republicans and Democrats split on key issues.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Five Republicans voted against the bill while five Democrats broke ranks to support it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The last US shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted for 16 days, during which many federal employees took a forced leave of absence.<\/p>\n
Many government offices will close as federal law requires agencies to shut down if Congress has not allocated money to fund them.<\/p>\n
National parks and monuments are also likely to face closure.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the hours before the vote, President Trump sounded pessimistic, tweeting that it was “not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border”.
\nHe invited Chuck Schumer, a fellow New Yorker, to the White House for last-ditch talks but they failed to find sufficient common ground.<\/p>\n
Emerging about an hour later, Mr Schumer told reporters “some progress” had been made, but a “good number of disagreements” remained, including a difference in opinion regarding the Democrats’ desire to extend talks for another five days.<\/p>\n