The clock struck 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday with congressional lawmakers incapable of reaching an agreement on a short-term measure to fund the government. The failure led to the first government shutdown since 1996, and stood as another low point for a Congress that's pretty much only had low points. With the historically unpopular Congress now ...
NEW YORK (AP) — From New York’s Liberty Island to Alaska’s Denali National Park, the U.S. government closed its doors as a bitter budget fight idled hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halted all but the most critical government services for the first time in nearly two decades. A midnight deadline to avert a shutdown passed amid Congressional bickering, casting in doubt Americans’ ability to get government services ranging from federally-backed home loans to supplemental food assistance for children and pregnant women. For many employees of the federal government, the shutdown that began Tuesday meant no more paychecks as they were forced onto unpaid furloughs. For those still working, it meant delays in getting paid. Park Ranger and father-to-be Darquez Smith said he already lives ...
