US moves toward govt shutdown after Democrats vote down federal funding bill

The US government is on the brink of its first federal shutdown in at least six years after Senate Democrats struck down a Republican bill to keep the lights on. The funding will expire in approximately 4 hours, leading to a shutdown of the federal government.

The 55-45 vote on Tuesday on the bill to extend federal funding for seven weeks fell short of the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster and pass the legislation. The failure to reach a consensus came as Democrats pushed for their healthcare demand and threatened to close the government if President Donald Trump did not respond.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says that the failed vote to fund the government shows that Republicans must enter a negotiation to gain their support.

“They’ve got to sit down and negotiate with Democrats to come to a bill that both parties can support,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat.

‘Mass layoffs’

Trump addressed a press conference on Tuesday, acknowledging the inevitability of a shutdown, saying, “We’ll probably have a shutdown.”

Blaming Democrats for the impasse, Trump also threatened to use a potential shutdown to target progressive priorities and implement sweeping public sector job cuts.

“So we’d be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. And they’re Democrats, they’re going to be Democrats,” Trump added at a later White House event.

He said a “lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” and suggested he would use the pause to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s budget office posted a letter with instructions from Director Russ Vought immediately after the failed Senate vote.

“Affected agencies should now execute their plans,” Vought wrote.

He told employees to come to work on Wednesday to “undertake orderly shutdown activities.”

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