WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown has begun. So has the finger-pointing.
President Donald Trump says Democrats wanted to give him “a nice present” to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration.
He says Democrats “could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead.”
In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president is trying to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans in the November elections “in order to power through this mess.”
It’s a striking display of Washington’s dysfunction as the shutdown halts all but the most essential operations.
Congress has scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure — and to let the public know they’re at work as the shutdown starts.
The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday. That has halted all but the most essential operations and marred the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction.
Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown.
Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, R-Ky., walks to his office early Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
