US government shutdown looms as lawmakers squabble
- Congress has until midnight Friday to pass a measure that would continue funding federal government operations
- Negotiations held up by Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates
The threat of a US federal government shutdown was looming as lawmakers failed to reach a budget agreement before funding runs out Friday.
Congress has until Friday night (Saturday Hong Kong time) to come up with a new budget in order to avoid a sudden stoppage of most so-called non-essential federal government operations, putting hundreds of thousands of workers on furlough without pay.
Various administrative offices, national parks, museums and dozens of other services would see their congressional authorisation to spend money stop at the end of Friday.
During the winter 2018-2019 shutdown, which was the longest in US history at about five weeks, security lines at airports were even affected.
Despite deep partisan divisions, the majority of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers hope to avoid a repeat of that scenario, which could wreak havoc ahead of the holidays.