The Federal Government of the United States of America had to shut down its functions for the first time in five years as the country’s senate failed to pass a crucial bill that sought to fund its operations for the next four weeks.
According to American federal law, a shutdown occurs when the Congress and the President are unable to pass an appropriations bill to fund operations of the government and its agencies.
Such an event results in all government agencies (barring those involved in homeland security and defense, such as the FBI, Department of Defence, etc.) being forced to stall functioning. As a result, over 8,00,000 government employees will also be asked to stay at home with unpaid leaves until the crisis is resolved.
A standoff between the Democrats and the Republicans was already anticipated before the bill was to be voted on. Hectic negotiations failed in the end after the Democrats managed to derail the bill by roping in a few members of the ruling party on their side. They claimed that they were derailing the bill to oppose the government for its adamant stance on deporting illegal migrants from the country.
President Donald Trump, who was celebrating his first year anniversary in the office that day, minced no words in blaming the Democrats for the situation with a series of tweets. He accused them of jeopardizing the security and economic growth of the country by carrying out this move.