US government shutdown starts as Trump threatens mass layoffs

By Staff Reporter

A United States federal government shutdown started at midnight local time on Wednesday (04:00 GMT).
The shutdown will temporarily halt some US government services and put the salaries of hundreds of thousands of government employees on hold.
President Donald Trump has threatened to use the funding lapse to implement mass layoffs of government workers.
The shutdown comes after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill.
The main disagreement was over healthcare spending, including continued funding for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.