U.S. government shutdown looms after Senate rejects stopgap bill

Photo taken on Aug. 4, 2022 shows the White House and a stop sign in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

With both chambers now at an impasse and the deadline to renew federal funding expiring at midnight on Sept. 30, the risk of a government shutdown is rising.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States is edging closer to a partial government shutdown after the Senate on Friday rejected a short-term funding measure passed earlier in the day by the House of Representatives.

The House narrowly approved the Republican-drafted plan to keep the government funded until late November, but the Senate blocked it hours later with 44 in favor to 48 opposed, failing to reach the required 60 votes. A Democratic alternative, which included provisions on healthcare programs, also failed.

With both chambers now at an impasse and the deadline to renew federal funding expiring at midnight on Sept. 30, the risk of a government shutdown is rising.

A shutdown would halt many federal services, delay paychecks for hundreds of thousands of workers, and disrupt operations from national parks to visa processing, though mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare would continue.

The standoff underscores deep partisan divisions in Washington, with Democrats criticizing the House plan for omitting healthcare priorities and Republicans arguing that a stopgap is necessary to buy more time for negotiations.