The United States Senate failed to pass the bill to prolong the funding of the government for four weeks, in a heated session late Friday evening. Unless a bipartisan deal is reached from scratch, a government shutdown is due to start at midnight (6 am CET). The US President Donald Trump accused the Democrats of refusing to compromise and claimed that the Democratic Party wants to "diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts." Democrats voiced their opposition to the legislation as it does not include provisions for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which expires in March. In a compromise effort, Republicans added an extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to the bill.
Fifty Senators voted for the bill, while 48 were against, mostly divided along party lines. Republican Senator John McCaine was not present and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to vote.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to prolong the government funding for another four weeks. If the shutdown takes place, government agencies would temporarily close, and employees would go on a forced leave absence. However, law enforcement, airport security and other essential services' functioning would not be affected. Last time a government shutdown took place was in October 2013.
