US government enters partial shutdown after 2026 budget deadline was missed | World News

The US government entered a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to pass the 2026 federal budget before the midnight deadline, leading to a temporary cut in funding for much of the public sector.

The outage is expected to be short-term. The House of Representatives could approve a Senate-backed funding package early next week, following late-night action in the upper house to limit the impact of the shutdown, lawmakers said.

Budget talks collapsed amid anger among Democrats over the deaths of two protesters during a sting operation by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. The incident derailed talks on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a central point of contention in the negotiations, ultimately preventing a deal from being reached before the deadline.

As a result, non-essential government operations were suspended overnight. Departments affected include education, health, housing and defence. Roughly three-quarters of federal operations are affected, and if the shutdown continues, tens of thousands of federal employees could be furloughed or required to work without pay until funding is restored, officials said.

“Instead of going after drug traffickers, child predators, and human traffickers, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable resources targeting peaceful protesters in Chicago and Minneapolis,” Senate Democratic Minority Chairman Dick Durbin said. “This Administration continues to make Americans less safe.”

Late Friday, the Senate passed a package covering the remaining five funding bills needed to fund most federal agencies through September. He also approved a two-week stopgap measure for DHS, giving negotiators additional time to resolve disputes over immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump supported the Senate agreement and called on the House to act quickly, signaling his intention to avoid a prolonged shutdown. If approved, it would be the second government shutdown of his second term, following a record-long shutdown last fall that brought federal services to a halt for more than a month.

(With inputs from IANS)