With a government shutdown just hours away, Democrats and Republicans angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions, unable to find agreement or even negotiate as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stood to be temporarily stood down or laid off.

The partisan standoff over health care and spending is threatening to trigger the first US government shutdown in almost seven years at 12.01am on Wednesday (2.01pm AEST).

To avoid it, the Senate would have to pass a House of Representatives measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while legislators finish their work on annual spending bills. But a resolution appeared far off as tempers flared, increasing the odds of a shutdown by the hour.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans are t

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