US government shutdown: what is behind the stalemate?

The US Senate votes today on a bill to temporarily restore federal funding and end a three-day shutdown that has delayed federal services and forced hundreds of thousands of civil servants to take unpaid leave.

Although essential services such as air traffic control are operating, many federal departments were offically shut down at midnight on Friday after US lawmakers failed to reach a deal on a spending bill that would have kept government offices open temporarily.

“Most Democrats refuse to support the bill because it does not do anything to protect the ‘Dreamers’ - 800,000 people brought to the US illegally as children, who face deportation after Mr Trump cancelled a programme to shield them,” reports the Financial Times.

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“Conservatives enthusiastically promoted the notion that Democrats were taking the government to the cusp of a shutdown to benefit undocumented immigrants,” The Washington Post reports. “Numerous Republicans said they were perfectly comfortable waging the shutdown fight on those terms, though Democrats have sought to expand the playing field to other issues such as funding to combat opioid abuse and pension bailouts.”

The Senate will vote at midday local time following a pledge by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to address the expiring immigration programme, CNN reports.

The BBC says the shutdown, which began on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, casts doubt on whether the president will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he is due to meet delegates including Theresa May this week.