The US
government has begun a partial shutdown after the two houses of Congress failed
to agree a new budget.
The
Republican-led House of Representatives insisted on delaying President Barack
Obama's healthcare reform - dubbed Obamacare - as a condition for passing a
bill.
More than
700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once
the deadlock is over.
It is the first
shutdown in 17 years and the dollar fell early on Tuesday.
Goldman Sachs
estimates a three-week shutdown could shave as much as 0.9% from US GDP this
quarter.
On Tuesday, Mr
Obama blamed the House of Representatives for the stalemate and said he would
"keep working to get Congress to reopen the government [and] restart vital
services".
"This
shutdown was completely preventable. It should not have happened," he
wrote in a letter to
federal government employees.
"And the
House of Representatives can end it as soon as it follows the Senate's lead,
and funds your work in the United States Government without trying to attach
highly controversial and partisan measures in the process."
On Monday, House
Speaker John Boehner told reporters he hoped the Senate would agree to a
committee between the two chambers known as a conference "so we can
resolve this for the American people".
"The House
has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all
Americans under Obamacare," he said.
But on Tuesday
morning, the Senate voted 54-46 to reject the request for formal negotiations
to end the impasse.
Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24343698
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