Washington: The US government shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans, locked in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security, failed to agree on a last-minute deal to fund its operations February 16.
The Bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate but only 50 supported it. Most Democrats opposed the Bill because their efforts to include protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, known as Dreamers, were rejected by President Donald Trump and Republican leaders.
Huddled negotiations between Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer were unsuccessful, and the US government technically ran out of money at midnight. While the two men said they remained committed to reaching a deal, the shutdown formally began on Saturday, the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
