Government Shuts Down as Senate Fails to Reach a Deal

Senate Democrats blocked the stopgap bill to keep the government open

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) walk out of a Democratic caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 19, 2018. A continuing resolution to fund the government has passed the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Hours before the deadline, Senate Democrats blocked the passage of a short-term funding bill, leading to a government shutdown.

President Donald Trump and the Senate’s top Democrat leader on Friday failed to reach an agreement on the spending bill. As a last-ditch effort to keep the government open, the Senate scheduled a vote for 10 p.m. on the House-passed bill to extend funding for four weeks. However, Democrats blocked passage of a funding patch known as a continuing resolution (CR) that would maintain current funding for federal operations and keep the government open through mid-February.