01/10/2013 09:11
US begins government shutdown as budget deadline passes
The US government has begun a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year, the BBC reported.
A midnight deadline passed without agreement despite a last-gasp appeal by President Barack Obama.
More than 700,000 US government workers face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.
Republicans have insisted on delaying President Obama's health care reforms as a condition for passing the budget.
With less than one hour to go before midnight, the Republican-led House called for a bipartisan committee with the Senate to try to thrash out a deal, but Democrats said it was too late to avoid a shutdown.
The White House's budget office began notifying federal agencies to begin an "orderly shutdown" as midnight approached.
One of the first casualties of the shutdown was the twitter account for the US Capitol.
"Due to a lapse in government funding, this account will not be active until further notice," it posted.
Earlier it had warned that the Capitol's visitors' centre would be closed if the shutdown went ahead, and all tours would be suspended.
Shortly after midnight, President Obama tweeted: "They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget."