The US government has officially shut down for the first time in nearly seven years, after congressional Democrats refused to support a Republican funding package unless they won a series of concessions centered on healthcare.
According to The Guardian, it marks the first time the US government has shuttered since a 35-day shutdown that lasted from late 2018 into early 2019 during Donald Trump’s first presidency.
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers deemed not essential for protecting people or property, such as law enforcement personnel, could be furloughed or laid off after the shutdown began at midnight.
Critical services, including social security payments and the postal service, will keep operating but may suffer from worker shortages, while national parks and museums could be among the sectors that close completely.
It comes after rival Democrat and Republicans refused to budge in their stand-off over healthcare spending.
A Democrat-led proposal to keep the government funded went down by 53 votes to 47 in the Senate, before the Republicans' one notched up 55 in favour, five short of the threshold needed to avert a shutdown.
Following the votes in Washington DC on Tuesday night, the White House's budget office confirmed the shutdown would happen and said affected agencies "should now execute their plans."
It blamed the Democrats, describing their position as "untenable".
The opposition party wants to reverse cuts to the government's health insurance programme, Medicaid, which were passed earlier this summer.
