US govt shuts down amid deadlock

Roughly 750,000 federal workers may be furloughed, shutdown may cut GDP growth by 15bps weekly

- AGENCIES

Plunged into a government shutdown, the US is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programmes and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump has vowed to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution.

His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to have ripples nationwide.

“We don't want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline. This is the third time Trump has presided over a federal funding lapse, the first since his return to the White House this year, in a remarkable record that underscores the polarising divide over budget priorities and a political climate that rewards hardline positions rather than more traditional compromises.