US government heads for shutdown after lawmakers fail to make deal
- Last week Donald Trump had said he would be ‘proud’ to shut the government, and ‘I’ll be the one to shut it down’
- House adjourned without Congress passing a spending deal, assuring a partial shutdown, with Trump and lawmakers at odds over border wall funding
The US House of Representatives adjourned on Friday without Congress passing a spending deal, assuring a partial government shutdown at midnight local time as President Donald Trump and lawmakers remain at odds over border wall funding.
Earlier, Trump met Republican senators after threatening a “very long” government shutdown just hours before the midnight deadline, demanding the border wall funding and trying to shift blame to Democrats.
Operations for several key agencies will cease in the early hours of Saturday, despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties.
It remained unclear how long the shutdown will last. But the optics are bad, as hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be either furloughed or forced to work without pay in the run up to the Christmas holiday.
The House is due back in session at noon on Saturday.
The Senate meanwhile remained open late on Friday, but there were no signs yet of a breakthrough, and the chamber was quiet.