US budget deadline passes; first government shutdown in 17 years

The most high-stakes game of chicken is not ending so fast. The House voted in the wee hours Sunday to delay funding for Obamacare, thus all but ensuring a government shutdown starting Tuesday at midnight. The dramatic vote occurred past midnight Sunday, after hours of a rare Saturday session where the House GOP agreed to keep the government running past Tuesday—only if Obamacare funding is delayed a year, which the Senate has already insisted it will reject. The answer: the first government shutdown in 17 years, which will furlough “non-essential” government workers, close national parks, delay passport applications, and keep toxic waste sites from being cleaned—although the House did set in motion a plan to still pay members of the U.S. military.

Spending your day waiting for the other party to blink doesn't really sound like fun, but does anyone really feel bad for Congress? The Capitol was eerily calm on Sunday as the clock ticked down closer to Tuesday at midnight, when the government will shut down if a stopgap funding measure is not approved. The next high-stakes showdown will be at 2 p.m. Monday, when the Senate will take up the House-approved spending bill, which delays implementing Obamacare for another year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already vowed to reject the House bill. Behind closed doors, House Republicans slammed Democrats for trying to run down the clock and blame the shutdown on Republicans.

US Senate rejects latest budget bill proposed by House of Representatives, as government shutdown looms