US Government Shuts Down On First Anniversary Of Trump’s Presidency
Agencies
Washington, 20 Jan 2018: The US government has started to shut down after Congress failed to overcome a bitter standoff over spending and immigration - marking a choatic end to Donald Trump’s first year as president.
Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century.
Social Security and most other safety net programmes are unaffected by the lapse in federal spending authority. Critical government functions will continue, with uniformed service members, health inspectors and law enforcement officers set to work without pay. But if no deal is brokered before Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed.
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 48 against, but 60 were needed to break a Democratic filibuster.
In an unusual move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell allowed the roll call to exceed 90 minutes - instead of the usual 20 or so - seemingly accommodating the numerous discussions among leaders and other lawmakers. But as midnight passed, there was no end in sight to the political stalemate. Each party expressed resolve in its position - and confidence that the other would pay the penalty at the ballot box.
The lawmakers and Mr Trump’s White House had mounted last-ditch negotiations to stave off what had come to appear as the inevitable, with the parties in stare-down mode over federal spending and proposals to protect some 700,000 younger immigrants from deportation.
Mr Trump earlier summoned Mr Schumer to the White House in hopes of cutting a deal.
But the two New Yorkers, who pride themselves on their negotiating abilities, emerged from the meeting at the White House without an agreement, and Republicans and Democrats in Congress continued to pass off responsibility.
The shutdown is the first since 2013, when tea party Republicans - in a strategy not unlike the one Mr Schumer is employing now - sought to use a must-pass funding bill to try to force then-President Barack Obama to delay implementation of his marquee health care law. At the time, Mr Trump told Fox & Friends that the ultimate blame for a shutdown lies at the top. "I really think the pressure is on the president," he said.