(UTV|COLOMBO) – The US government has shut down after Congress failed to pass a key budgetary measure on time.
Lawmakers had hoped to approve a new spending bill before federal funding expired at midnight.
But Republican Senator Rand Paul ended hopes for a quick vote when he demanded a debate in the chamber on his amendment to maintain spending caps.
In January, a similar failure to pass a bill led to a three-day government shutdown.
Late on Thursday, as Senator Paul continued to delay the vote, the White House said it was preparing for a possible shutdown.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives need to approve the new two-year spending deal.
The shutdown was essentially guaranteed an hour before the deadline, when the Senate voted for a recess until 00:01.
Despite the delays, the Senate is due to vote on the budgetary measure after 01:00. The House will not vote on the deal until the Senate approves it.
It is not yet clear how Congress will proceed and how public services may be affected on Friday.
The latest deal would raise spending caps by about $300bn (£215bn) – something which Senator Paul insisted he could not support.
Courtesy: BBC
[alert color=”faebcc” icon=”fa-commenting”]Keeping up to date with breaking news while you are on the move is now simple with UTV Alerts [textmarker color=”8a6d3b”]Type REG UTV and send to 77000[/textmarker] on your Dialog or Hutch mobile connection[/alert]
