U.S. government shutdown begins after budget impasse

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Europe

01:56

The U.S. government began a Christmastime shutdown early Saturday after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall.

Operations for several key agencies ceased at 12:01 am Saturday (5:01 GMT), despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he hopes the impending government shutdown will not be a lengthy one.

"The shutdown hopefully will not last long," Trump said in a video posted on his Twitter account.

"We are going to have a shutdown and there is nothing we could do about them," the president said in the video, "because we need the Democrats to give us their votes."

Screenshot of U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet, December 21, 2018. /CGTN Photo

This shutdown was the first time in 40 years that the government has shuttered three times in a year.

Initially, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would extend funding for several major government departments until February 8, without including the border wall money.

However, President Trump threatened to veto it because of the lack of border wall funding.

The House then passed an amended continuing resolution on Friday, but the Senate failed to do so before the deadline.

Source(s): AFP