The federal government partially shut down at midnight Wednesday, hours after all but three Senate Democrats voted down a short-term funding bill .

The shutdown is the first since December 2018, which saw non-essential government operations cease and tens of thousands of federal employees furloughed or forced to work without pay for 35 days until lawmakers agreed on a stopgap funding measure.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought notified federal department and agency heads shortly after Tuesday’s failed Senate vote to keep the government funded to begin preparations for a shutdown. 4

“[A]ffected agencies should now execute their plans for an orderly shutdown.” Vought wrote in a memo.

A House-passed bill – backed by virtually all Senate Republican

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