>
Article snippet: Congress has missed a midnight deadline to prevent a government shutdown. The Senate voted Friday night on a procedural motion to advance the House GOP's monthlong stopgap, but it failed to clear the 60 votes needed to advance on a mostly party-line vote. The vote remained open nearly two hours after it began as negotiations behind the scenes continued. After it concluded, Senate Majority Leader MORE (R-Ky.) ripped Democrats for voting agains the bill. He later suggested the Senate may vote on a measure that would keep the government open for three weeks, instead of four weeks. Office of Management and Budget Director MORE issued a memorandum instructing agencies to begin a shutdown shortly after 1 a.m. The memo said that because OMB does not have a clear signal from Congress that it will act to fund the government, it is necessary to execute plans "for an orderly shutdown" due to the absence of appropriations. It said OMB would offer additional guidance as appropriate. The closure will mark the first time that the government has been shuttered since 2013, when a shutdown carried on for 16 days as a band of Republicans tried to dismantle ObamaCare. Republicans are blaming Senate Democrats for the impasse, arguing their refusal to agree to a one-month stopgap passed on a largely party-line vote in the House caused the shutdown. Democrats say Republicans are to blame given their control of the White House and Congress and failure to work with Democrats. Lawmakers ... Link to the full article to read more