Congress failed to reach an agreement on the government budget and the White House announced a federal government shutdown

Congress failed to reach an agreement on the government budget and the White House announced a federal government shutdown. According to the Associated Press, as of the early morning of October 1, Congress had not reached an agreement on the government budget...

According to the Wall Street Journal, tonight's 228-201 vote will trigger another round of confrontation between the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled Senate. The short-term budget bill has been sent to the Senate, and Democratic senators are expected to delete the provisions supported by Republicans within an hour and then send the revised bill to the House of Representatives.

The bill passed by the House of Representatives will maintain federal government spending in the first few weeks of the new fiscal year, but will delay the implementation of key provisions of the health care reform law for a year. The Republican bill would also limit government subsidies for medical expenses for members of Congress and staff.

The Republican Party's new plan was criticized by some members of the party as soon as it was announced after a closed-door meeting on Monday afternoon; but by the evening vote, the Republicans reached a consensus.

House Speaker John Boehner claimed that Republicans want to protect Americans from the "uncertain consequences and uncertain destruction" of the health care reform law.

Democratic congressmen said that the public had already cast a vote of confidence in the health care reform law in the general election last November. Hoyer, the Democratic whip of the House of Representatives from Maryland, said they claimed to speak for the American people for a reason, but the people rejected their reason in last year's election and elected Obama for a second term.