The US Senate rejected two bills aimed at preventing a partial shutdown of the federal government, which could happen in the coming hours. The meeting was broadcast by C-SPAN.
The Republican-proposed bill, passed by the House of Representatives and designed to avert a government shutdown, received 55 votes “in favor“ and 45 votes “against“.
The Democratic-proposed bill received 47 votes “in favor“ and 53 votes “against“. Approval in the upper chamber requires at least 60 votes. The Senate thus failed to pass the bill that would have averted a potential government shutdown at midnight local time on October 1 (7:00 a.m. Bulgarian time on Wednesday).
US President Donald Trump had previously raised the possibility of a government shutdown if Republicans and Democrats in Congress did not reach a consensus on a bill to allocate additional funds for the federal government by October 1. Lawmakers from both major parties cannot agree on a number of spending items, including health care. They accuse each other of trying to provoke a government shutdown for political purposes.
In March, Trump signed a law that extends funding for the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, which ended on September 30. This averted a March 15 shutdown that would have shut down several government agencies and programs and temporarily suspended the pay of hundreds of thousands of government employees, many of whom would have been furloughed.
Under U.S. law, departments and agencies responsible for national security and foreign policy activities continue to operate during a federal government shutdown. Similar requirements apply to government employees whose jobs are focused on “protecting life and property”. Government employees forced to work under such conditions do not receive salaries, but are usually paid after the funding issue is resolved.
Since 1977, federal funding has been cut more than 20 times due to disagreements between the administration and Congress. The longest period was 35 days - from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019 - during Trump's first term.