At 12:01am funding for the federal government lapsed after lawmakers were unable to come to an agreement on a continuing resolution (CR). White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought sent a memorandum to all federal agency heads directing an orderly shutdown of the federal government that noted “the duration of the shutdown is difficult to predict.” The memorandum was uncharacteristically partisan and bombastic for an OMB “Status of Agency Operations” memorandum, blaming “Democrat Senators” for “blocking passage” of the House-passed CR “due to [their] insane policy demands.” The memorandum came after Senate Democrats blocked the House-passed CR to fund the government for an additional seven weeks in a 55-45 vote that fell short of the 60 votes required to break a filibuster. Three members of the Senate Democratic Caucus defied their party and voted with Republicans in favor the “clean” short-term CR: Sens. John Fetterman (PA), Angus King (ME), and Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV). Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Senate Republican to join Democrats in voting against the House-passed CR.
