Washington: The US government officially shutdown today after the Senate rejected a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government running. The shutdown began at 12:01 am (local time) after a few Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the crucial measure would have provided short-term funding for the Pentagon and other federal agencies. Trump blamed the Democrats for the shutdown which comes exactly a year after he was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. "Dems want a shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the tax cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy," he said. Despite last minute bipartisan meetings, the bill to fund the government until February 16 did not receive the required 60 votes. The Senate voted 50-48 to block the stopgap funding measure.

The short-term spending bill was passed by the House on Thursday. This is part of the Democrats strategy to force President Trump and the Republicans to negotiate with them on immigration reforms. The effect of the shutdown would be felt most from Monday when the federal government employees would not be able to join for their work and be forced to stay at home without pay. It is estimated that more than 800,000 federal employees would be furloughed. Only the essential services would be operational.

Here are the highlights of US government shutdown: