The US government has entered a partial shutdown after Congress was unable to pass a funding bill before a critical deadline.
The lapse in funding, which began early Wednesday, is the result of a stalemate between Democrats and Republicans. The central point of contention is health care funding, with Democrats demanding the restoration of billions of dollars to programs like Obamacare.
The shutdown will furlough hundreds of thousands of federal employees, who will stop working and will not be paid until a deal is reached. While essential services like the military and postal delivery will continue, many agencies are halting operations. Several US embassies announced they would only post urgent security updates, and NASA stated it was “CLOSED due to a lapse in Government funding.”
Political leaders were quick to assign blame. Democratic leaders accused Republicans of shutting down the government because they “do not want to protect the health care of the American people.” In response, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson questioned how long Democratic leaders would let the shutdown continue, highlighting impacts on nutrition programs for women and children, veteran healthcare, and unpaid federal workers.
This is the first government shutdown since the record 35-day closure that occurred nearly seven years ago, also during the Trump administration. It remains unclear how long this funding lapse will last.
