After Republican and Democratic leaders failed to reach consensus on the nation's budget, the federal government shut down at 12:01am on Wednesday.
Congress on Tuesday failed to pass a Democratic-backed spending bill that would have extended health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and reversed cuts to Medicaid, as well as the GOP-backed stopgap funding measure that would have funded the government for seven weeks.
"Democrats have officially voted to CLOSE the government," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said on social media , following the Senate vote.
Congressional Democrats blamed President Donald Trump and Republicans for not caring about the health of Americans.
"Democrats remain ready to find a bipartisan pat forward to reopen the government in a way that l