Source: Fox News
Funding for a slew of federal agencies lapsed at midnight after Congress and the White House failed to pass a spending package amid a bruising fight over border wall funding.
The missed deadline means nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies will close just as the Christmas break begins.
But it does not mean the whole federal government is affected: Only about a quarter of the government is actually shutting down.The Senate planned to reconvene at noon Saturday to continue talks.
Congress had been facing a Friday deadline to fund a portion of the government or risk the partial shutdown. But even though negotiations continue, lawmakers left the Capitol on Friday without a deal to fund the government by midnight’s deadline.
Over the last few weeks, Republicans and Democrats had been at a standstill over the president’s demands for $5 billion to fund the border wall.
“This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security,” President Trump said earlier Friday. Democrats will take control of the House on Jan. 3, and they oppose major funding for wall construction.
“This is our only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security.”
— President Trump
But not long after midnight, Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement, pinning the blame for the partial shutdown squarely on the president.
“Regrettably, America has now entered a Trump Shutdown,” the Democrats wrote. “Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. But instead of honoring his responsibility to the American people, President Trump threw a temper tantrum and convinced House Republicans to push our nation into a destructive Trump Shutdown in the middle of the holiday season. President Trump has said more than 25 times that he wanted a shutdown and now he has gotten what he wanted.
“Democrats have offered Republicans multiple proposals to keep the government open,” they continued, “including one that already passed the Senate unanimously, and all of which include funding for strong, sensible, and effective border security – not the president’s ineffective and expensive wall. If President Trump and Republicans choose to continue this Trump Shutdown, the new House Democratic majority will swiftly pass legislation to re-open government in January.”
Much of the drama Friday took place in the Senate: After keeping the vote open for five hours to secure enough support, the…
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