Government Shutdown 2018
Government shuts down after negotiations fail
The U.S. government shut down at midnight on Friday after a four-week spending bill, which passed in the House Thursday, failed 50-49 in the Senate. It needed 60 votes to pass. President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met privately Friday in an attempt to negotiate a deal, but at voting time, most Senate Democrats stood firm in their refusal to support a measure that does not protect young undocumented immigrants.
Republicans have portrayed Democrats' stand as unfair to the 9 million children who depend on the CHIP health insurance program. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Democrats "obstructionist losers, not legislators," and said "we will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands," The Washington Post reports.
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed a new measure to fund the government for three weeks, instead of four, CNN reports. The Senate will reconvene on Saturday at noon.
This is the first government shutdown in more than four years, and the first to occur while a single party controls both the White House and Congress.