The US government partial shutdown is ending after Republicans and Democrats voted to approve a temporary funding bill.

Senator Chuck Schumer said Democrats agreed to back the bill if Republicans would address a programme that shields young immigrants from deportation.

Democrats refused to vote for the bill unless they secured protections for recipients of the Obama-era programme.

The government is expected to re-open on Tuesday.

Thousands of federal employees who had been placed on temporary, unpaid leave breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was essentially a lunch break," Tom Chapel, a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, told Reuters news agency.

What's the political reaction?

Mr Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, lambasted President Donald Trump for failing to help reach a bipartisan deal, adding that he had not spoken with him since a meeting on Friday before the shutdown began.

"The great deal-making president sat on the sidelines," he added.

The New York senator said he was hopeful about talks on so-called Dreamers, more than 700,000 young immigrants brought to the US as children who were protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said his party intended to consider legislation "that would address Daca, border security and related issues, as well as disaster relief".

"We need to move forward and the first step, the very first step, is ending the shutdown," Mr McConnell said.

Republican President Donald Trump said in a statement: "I am pleased that Democrats in Congress have come to their senses.

"We will make a long-term deal on immigration if, and only if, it is good for our country."

Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez slammed his own party's senators after the vote saying: "They caved. They blinked. That's what they do."

On Twitter, "Democrats CAVED" was trending on Monday evening.

What happens next?

The bill goes to President Trump's desk for signature after the Senate passed it by 81-18, before it cleared the House of Representatives by 266-150.

The continuing resolution provides funding to keep the government open temporarily in the hope that Congress can reach a permanent funding agreement before the 8 February deadline.

Why did the government shut down?

At midnight on Friday, lawmakers failed to agree on a spending bill. The bill was not a plan for funding for the whole of 2018, but would have kept things running until the middle of next month.

Efforts to reach a compromise ahead of the working week failed in a rare Senate session late on Sunday.

Democrats wanted President Trump to negotiate over immigration as part of a budget deal, but Republicans had said no agreement was possible while federal government services were closed.

Republicans wanted funding for border security - including a proposed border wall with Mexico - and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending.

Why don't shutdowns happen elsewhere?

In parliamentary systems, a government that can't pay the bills doesn't last long.

In 2012, for example, the Dutch government couldn't agree a budget. The prime minister resigned, elections were held, and a new government formed.

Some countries don't even need a government to function.

After its 2010 election, Belgium went more than 500 days without elected leadership, but still avoided a shutdown.

Taxes were collected, workers were paid, and a caretaker government passed a budget.

In France - a semi-presidential system - the constitution sets out what happens when a budget isn't passed.

The government, it says, shall "make available by decree the funds needed to meet commitments already voted for".

Really, the question isn't why other countries don't shutdown. It's why the US does shutdown, even when there's money sloshing round the system.

That stems from 1980 and 1981, when US Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti strictly interpreted the 1884 Antideficiency Act.

He said, in the event of a funding gap, government agencies should suspend operations - until money was appropriated by Congress.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by BBC NEWS

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