US govt shutdown begins as nation faces uncertainty

SHUTDOWN WOULD LEAD TO FURLOUGH OF 750,000 WORKERS

- DAVID MORGAN, BO ERICKSON, NOLAN D MCCASKILL & RICHARD COWAN

THE US GOVERNMENT shut down much ofits operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could bea long, grueling standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs.

There was no clear path out of the impasse, while agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, slow air travel, suspend scientific research, withhold pay from US troopsand lead tothe furlough of 750,000 federal workers ata daily cost of $400 million.