The United States is on the brink of a government shutdown after the Senate failed to extend funding past midnight on Tuesday, raising fears of widespread layoffs across the federal workforce.

The 55–45 Senate vote fell short of the 60 required to advance the stopgap measure, virtually guaranteeing that government operations will grind to a halt on Wednesday. Essential services such as law enforcement and air traffic control will continue, but most other agencies will scale back, disrupting services from routine food inspections to the release of the monthly jobs report.

President Donald Trump escalated tensions by threatening further cuts to federal jobs if the shutdown proceeds. “Well, the Democrats want to shut it down. So when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So we’d be la

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