Democrats and Republicans blame each other for US government shutdown
Speaker of the House John Boehner says Republicans have acted out of "fairness" to the American people, whilst Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accuses the party of trying to shutdown the US government at all costs.
For the first time in nearly two decades, the US government staggered into a partial shutdown at midnight on Monday after congressional Republicans stubbornly demanded changes in the nation's health care law as the price for essential federal funding and President Barack Obama and Democrats adamantly refused.
As Congress came to an impasse, Mr Obama said a "shutdown will have a very real economic impact on real people, right away," with hundreds of thousands of federal workers placed on unpaid leave and veterans' centres, national parks, most of the space agency and other government operations closed with immediate effect.
House Speaker John Boehner responded a short while later. He said that it was not the intention of House Republicans to shut down the government, and that the House had voted to keep the government open.
However, he also called for "fairness" for all Americans under the affordable care act and said the Senate should meet the House in conference so that differences can be resolved.
Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the shutdown was a Republican plan, and a product of the Republican anti-government ideology.
