A partial government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass an emergency spending measure and send it to President Biden’s desk before the deadline.
However, the Senate is actively working through amendment votes and other considerations to send the measure to Biden. The emergency bill is expected to be passed in the Senate in the coming hours.
The partial shutdown is only possible days before Christmas and New Year.
From Thursday the US national debt was $36,167,604,149,955.61 and continued to rise rapidly.
A partial government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass an emergency spending measure before the deadline. (Photo by Jemal Gravin/Getty Images)
During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services are halted, but some functions deemed “essential” will continue. Certain national security functions, such as border patrol, law enforcement and emergency response, will remain active during the shutdown.
However, because the Senate is expected to introduce the bill soon, the disruption to the functioning of the government will be minimal, if not noticeable at all.
An original agreement on a short-term spending bill was released earlier this week. a total of 1,547 pages and including a number of policies and disaster relief.
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Musk’s public criticism of the bill preceded Trump’s statement. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But shortly after its release, billionaire Elon Musk and other conservative critics publicly rejected the measure, ultimately leading to it being condemned by President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance.
The initial spending measure would have extended government funding levels for fiscal year 2024 through March 14 and provided more than $100 billion in disaster relief for those affected by Storms Helene and Milton in the southeastern U.S. earlier this year. A $10 billion provision for economic relief to farmers was also included in the bill.
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The size of the bill, along with several other provisions including a cost-of-living increase for lawmakers, prompted public backlash from Musk and others.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, co-chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill with his son on December 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
After going back to the drawing board, Republicans in the House of Representatives put forward a new proposal on Thursday. The revised measure would have extended current funding levels by three months and included a suspension of the debt limit for two years, at Trump’s request.
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In addition, it provided economic relief for farmers and approximately $110 billion in disaster relief.
But the bill failed in the House of Representatives on Thursday evening, as Democrats united against it and a sizable group of Republicans chose to oppose it as well.
On Friday morning, there appeared to be no agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together on a new bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-Y, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., even said the government would be partially shut down at midnight if Republicans didn’t return to the original relief bill.
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Representative Chip Roy speaks to the media after the House of Representatives failed to pass a government funding bill at the U.S. Capitol on December 19, 2024 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“I am prepared to stay here all Christmas because we will not let Elon Musk run the government,” Murray said in a statement.
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The House of Representatives adopted a third version of the expenditure bill on Friday. This was similar to the second version, which included both economic relief for farmers and disaster relief, but did not include the debt ceiling suspension that Trump had been adamant about.
The bill received broad bipartisan support in the House and was given the green light by Biden as the White House said he would support it. Even Schumer released a statement after the House passed, saying he was “confident” the bill would pass the Senate.
