US government shuts down after Senate fails to pass spending bill

WASHINGTON, Oct. 01 (YPA) -The US federal government has entered its first shutdown in seven years as lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill before Wednesday’s midnight deadline.

On Tuesday evening, both parties rejected each other’s proposals in consecutive Senate votes. Democrats refused to back the Republican plan, demanding an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies due to expire at year’s end and the reversal of planned Medicaid cuts.

Republicans described their bill as a “clean”, non-partisan measure to keep the government open, while Democrats countered that it would jeopardize healthcare access for millions of Americans.

As a result of the shutdown, many non-essential government operations are frozen, hundreds of thousands of civilian employees are temporarily without pay, and some social safety net services and administrative projects are suspended.

This is the 15th federal government shutdown in the United States since 1981, and the first since 2018. The country’s longest shutdown lasted 35 days.

@E.Y.M