US Government Shuts Down Again As Budget Bill Stalls

The federal government shut down for the second time in three weeks Friday, driven to the brink by acute congressional dysfunction and pushed over it by the objections of a single conservative senator.

The partial shutdown began just after midnight when the government, operating on the latest in a series of short-term spending bills, ran out of money because Congress missed its deadline to pass a new one.

The Senate was expected to pass a massive spending deal in the early morning hours Friday that would reopen the government. The legislation would then head to the House, but the outlook there was less certain because of opposition from liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, and quick passage was not assured.

Last month, the government shut down for three days in a dispute over undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, reopening after Senate Democrats accepted assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that he would hold a floor debate on immigration this month.

Source: Washington Post