US government shuts down as partisan blame game heats up
By ZEKE MILLER, ANDREW TAYLOR and ALAN FRAM, Associated Press
Jan 20, 2018 1:36 AM CST
Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, right, and Marc Short, left, White House director for legislative affairs, speak to members of the media in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, about a potential government shutdown this weekend. (AP...   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government has shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday. That has halted all but the most essential operations and marred the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction.

Last-minute negotiations crumbled as Senate Democrats blocked a four-week stopgap extension in a late-night vote, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century. Behind the scenes, however, leading Republicans and Democrats were trying to work out a compromise to avert a lengthy shutdown.

Congress scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure.

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