WASHINGTON: As a result of severe party differences that hindered Congress and the White House from coming to an agreement on funding, the US government shut down a large portion of its activities on Wednesday. This sparked what could be a protracted and exhausting impasse that might result in the loss of thousands of federal jobs.
While agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would prevent the release of a highly anticipated September employment report, slow air travel, halt scientific research, withhold pay from US troops, and result in the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million, there was no obvious way out of the stalemate.
