Pecohub The United States federal government has entered a shutdown after the Senate failed to advance a Republican-backed funding bill on Tuesday evening.
The move by senate prompted President Donald Trump’s administration to order agencies to suspend non-essential operations.
The funding bill, which had already cleared the House, fell short in the upper chamber with a 55–45 vote, well below the 60 votes required to pass.
Democratic Senators John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez Masto, along with Independent Angus King, sided with Republicans, while Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joined Democrats in opposition.
The collapse of negotiations sets off the 21st government shutdown in 50 years.
Will some government services continue during the shutdown?
The shutdown will halt large parts of the federal bureaucracy and force hundreds of thousands of employees into furloughs.
Essential services including border security, air traffic control, law enforcement, and Social Security payments will continue under exceptions outlined in the Antideficiency Act.
Trump and Democrats exchange
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump accused Democrats of pushing the country toward crisis by refusing to accept his administration’s spending priorities.
“There will be irreversible layoffs of federal employees if Democrats don’t get serious,” Trump warned.
Democrats countered, saying they would not support a deal unless cuts to Medicaid under Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful, Bill” were reversed and Affordable Care Act subsidies extended.
Tensions escalated further when Trump posted another AI-generated video mocking House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, depicting him in a sombrero with a handlebar moustache.
Jeffries blasted the president as “an unserious individual”, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Republicans of “holding the government hostage to cruel cuts”.
The shutdown marks the third under Trump’s leadership, following prolonged closures in 2018–2019.
Lawmakers now face mounting pressure to negotiate a compromise as federal workers brace for delayed paycheques and millions of Americans wonder how long the disruption will last.
