US Shutdown: Senate Fails to Agree on New Budget
Even when they are in charge of all three branches of government the GOP can’t get the job done. They can’t work in the accommodating fashion that has always been required in our democratic republic because there are too many extreme zealots who are unable to compromise the least bit in their party. Our government is ingeniously designed so that no team ever walks away with all the marbles, and if you don’t get that then you don’t belong in politics in this country.
Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until 16 February did not receive the required 60 votes.
The last US shutdown happened in 2013 and lasted for 16 days.
The House of Representatives voted 230-197 on Thursday night to extend funding until next month, but the measure failed to pass the Senate.
Many government offices will close unless a compromise is found before the midnight deadline.
If the shutdown goes ahead essential services will still run. That includes national security, post, air traffic control, inpatient medical services, emergency outpatient medicine, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity production.
National parks and monuments could face closure, which provoked an angry public reaction during the last shutdown.