Originally Posted by Mick

BREAKING: U.S Government has shut down due to the U.S Senate failing to agree to pass the budget resolution bill by Midnight deadline (5 am UK time).

During a shutdown, nearly 40% of the government workforce is placed on unpaid leave and told not to work. Many, but not all, are non-defense federal employees. Active duty military personnel are not put on leave.

There have been 12 historical government shutdowns in the US since 1981. The longest occurred under Bill Clinton, lasting 21 days from December 1995 to January 1996, when the then House speaker, Newt Gingrich, demanded sharp cuts to government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and welfare.

The most recent shutdown occurred under Obama in 2013, pitting then president against the Republican-led House of Representatives. Republicans refused to support a spending bill that included funding for Obama’s healthcare law, that shutdown lasted 16 days, at it's peak affected 850,000 federal employees.

Today's shutdown, is largely due to the Democrats who were attempting to include a non-budget issue in to the negotiations, DACA and were not willing to budge on protections for 800,000 DREAMers which is due to expire in March.