U.S. government shuts down, lawmakers continue hectic negotiations

Government funding ran out at midnight as U.S. lawmakers failed to pass a spending bill to avert a federal government shutdown on Friday, but hectic negotiations continued past the midnight deadline.

In a dramatic late-night session, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell left voting open despite appearing to fall well short of the 60 votes needed to keep alive a stopgap bill that would fund the government through Feb. 16.

As the clock ticked toward midnight, McConnell and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer huddled in negotiations in a room just off the Senate floor.

Without some type of funding bill, the U.S. government technically ran out of money right as the clock struck midnight, on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration. This leaves scores of federal agencies across the country unable to continue operating, and hundreds of thousands of "non-essential" federal workers would be put on temporary unpaid leave.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding measure on Thursday. But Republicans then needed the support of at least 10 Democrats to pass the bill in the Senate.

Democratic leaders demanded that the measure include protections for hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants known as "Dreamers" who arrived in the United States as children with their parents. Republicans refused and neither side has been willing to back down.

Trump pointed the finger at his political rivals earlier on Friday.

"Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming?" he said.

Democrats say the search for a deal has been hurt by Trump sending contradictory messages about what kind of bipartisan immigration proposal he would accept.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jim Oliphant; Editing by Kieran Murray and Leslie Adler)

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