By News18

Copyright news18

The US federal government is expected to run out of money at midnight, precipitating a shutdown, unless lawmakers come together and resolve their differences. Congressional Democrats are refusing to give Republicans the votes they need to pass a short-term funding agreement, demanding overhauls to Medicaid cuts and extensions to health care tax credits that Republicans don’t want to touch. The last shutdown began in December 2018, during Trump’s first term, and was the longest shutdown in history – 35 days. During that shutdown, some federal workers began showing up at food banks and many essential workers began to call in sick. Union officials said many of them couldn’t afford the childcare or the gas needed to get to work. n18oc_world n18oc_crux