Brief government shutdown ushered in before Christmas as Senate works to advance House bill

A partial government shutdown began at 12:01 on Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending measure before the deadline and send it to President Biden's desk.

However, the Senate is actively working through amendment votes and other considerations in order to send the measure to Biden. The stopgap bill is expected to be passed in the Senate in the coming hours. 

The partial shutdown comes only days before Christmas and New Year's. 

As of Thursday, the U.S. national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and was continuing to climb rapidly. 

During a partial government shutdown, federal agencies and non-essential services are stopped, but some functions that are considered "essential" will continue. Certain n...