By Osagie Alonge
According to reports, the US Government failed to meet a September 30 deadline to avert a shutdown of government services covering home loans to supplemental food assistance for children and pregnant women.
Hundreds of thousands of workers have been forced into unpaid leave. Associated Press reports that 3,000 Federal Aviation Administration safety inspectors have been laid off. Other laid off include National Transportation Safety Board‘s employees, accident investigators and past of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) staff.
National parks have been closed including the Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo. Even the famous monument Statue of Liberty has reportedly been shut down.
US President Barack Obama blamed the government shutdown on House Republicans on Monday night, saying his health care plan is ‘moving forward’ despite GOP (Grand Old Party) efforts to defund it.
‘You don’t get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you’re supposed to be doing anyway … just because there’s a law there that you don’t like’, Obama said in the White House briefing room.
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