January 19th, 2018 by WCBC Radio
A government shutdown appeared likely after Congress deadlocked over a proposed four-week stopgap spending bill to keep federal offices open past Friday’s deadline.
After the House late Thursday passed the measure 230-197 with strong Republican support, the bill was headed for probable defeat in the Senate amid strong opposition from most Democrats and a few Republicans. The Senate adjourned late Thursday without voting.
The setback sends the White House and congressional leaders back to the negotiating table in a frantic search for a compromise.
The threat of a shutdown looms large in Maryland, where about 300,000 residents work for the federal government — at the massive Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, multiple Veterans Administration facilities and agencies ranging from the Department of Defense to the National Institutes of Health.