New Delhi: As the US government shutdown entered the second day , US lawmakers went home without finding a way to end the shutdown Americans braced themselves for a prolonged closure.
The United States federal government entered a shutdown on October 1, 2013. It is the first U.S. federal government shutdown since the shutdown of 1995 and 1996.
The shutdown was a result of political conflicts among Democratic President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives; specifically, the House's refusal to fund government operations without delays or changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Because Congress failed to avert a shutdown, 800,000 federal employees have been told to stay home. The White House estimates that a one-week shutdown could cost the US economy $10 billion.
