U.S. Government Shutdown Looms Amid Senate Funding Dispute

According to BlockBeats, the U.S. federal government is set to shut down early Wednesday morning local time (12 PM UTC+8) following mutual rejections of funding proposals by Senate Republicans and Democrats. U.S. President Donald Trump issued new threats to Democrats on Tuesday while signaling a willingness to discuss Medicaid funding further. The day before, congressional leaders from both parties met at the White House. Due to internal Republican disagreements and pressure from the Democratic left wing, any agreement may only be reached after the shutdown begins at 12:01 AM. This shutdown places the U.S. in uncharted territory. White House officials have previously expressed a desire to reduce the size of the government, indicating plans to use the funding halt as an opportunity for large-scale federal employee layoffs, rather than merely placing hundreds of thousands of civil servants on temporary leave.