'Shutdown' government VS set in motion

washington - In the US Senate, at the end of the deadline, too few members voted to keep the money supply for public spending open in the coming period.

In the Senate sixty of the hundred votes are required for approval of new government expenditures. They did not come by far. The parties had until midnight local time (6:00 am Dutch time) to get out.

The House of Representatives had agreed on Thursday with an extension of government spending until next month. In that room a normal majority is sufficient.

Immediately after the deadline, the closing, the so-called shutdown, of all non-essential government services begins. This continues until there is agreement about financing. It is expected that the weekend will be discussed to reach an agreement.

It is the first time since five years that government services have been closed. In 2013, that happened under President Barack Obama. That closure lasted 16 days at the time.

During the shutdown, civil servants and other government employees are sent home without payment of salary. Only the services that are of national and vital importance (such as police and fire brigade) remain active.

Democrats want promises in exchange for their support in the form of protection against expulsion of the dreamers. These are asylum seekers who came to the US as a child and usually have lived and settled in the country for years.

Some conservative Republicans are bothered for other reasons: They think government spending should be structurally reduced. Above all, they want to make savings in the area of ​​health care and social benefits.