HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A federal government shutdown began Wednesday after Senate Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a funding bill by the midnight deadline.

“Unfortunately, cooler heads did not prevail tonight,” U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement. “We will continue working every day to reopen the government, and my office will remain open to help residents in any way we can during this difficult time.”

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, called the shutdown “beyond deeply disappointing” and “disgusting.”

According to the congressman , there are some 24,000 federal civilians working in Hawaii, with roughly 19,000 working for the military. There are also around 47,000 service members in Hawaii, plus thousands of contractors, grant recipients and others whose

See Full Page