Politics
US govt shutdown begins as partisan division rules Washington
- Shutdown halts critical economic data, affects federal workers.
- Senate rejects spending measure, deepens partisan divide.
- Analysts warn shutdown could last longer than past closures.
WASHINGTON: The US government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long, gruelling standoff that could lead to the loss of thousands of federal jobs.
There was no clear path out of the impasse, while agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, slow air travel, suspend scientific research, withhold pay from US troops and lead to the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million.
Trump, whose campaign to radically reshape the federal government is already on track to push out some 300,000 workers by December, warned congressional Democrats that a shutdown could clear the path for “irreversible” actions, including cutting more jobs and programs.
The shutdown commenced hours after the Senate rejected a short-term spending measure that would have kept government operations afloat through November 21.
Democrats opposed the legislation over Republicans’ refusal to attach an extension of health benefits for millions of Americans, which are due to expire at the end of the year. Republicans say the issue must be addressed separately.
At issue on the government funding front is $1.7 trillion for agency operations, which amounts to roughly one-quarter of the government’s total $7 trillion budget. Much of the remainder goes to health and retirement programs and interest payments on the growing $37.5 trillion debt.
Independent analysts warn the shutdown could last longer than the budget-related closures of the past, with Trump and White House officials threatening to punish Democrats with cuts to government programs and the federal payroll.
Trump budget director Russell Vought, who has called for “less bipartisan” appropriations, threatened permanent layoffs last week in the event of a shutdown.
Nonpartisan measure devoid of partisan policy riders
The longest government shutdown in US history stretched over 35 days during December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump’s first term in office, in a dispute over border security.
“All they want to do is try to bully us. And they’re not going to succeed,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech a day after a White House meeting with Trump and other congressional leaders that ended with the two parties far apart.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune described the failed short-term spending bill as a “nonpartisan” measure devoid of partisan policy riders that Democrats have had no problem accepting in years past.
“What’s changed is that President Trump is in the White House. That’s what this is about. This is politics. And there isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters.
Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, but legislative rules require 60 of the 100 senators to agree on spending legislation. That means that at least seven Democrats are needed to pass a funding bill.
Focus on healthcare funding
Democrats are under pressure from their frustrated supporters to score a rare victory ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term.
The healthcare push has given them a chance to unite behind an issue that resonates with voters.
Along with the extended health subsidies, Democrats have also sought to ensure that Trump will not be able to undo those changes if they are signed into law.
Trump has refused to spend billions of dollars approved by Congress, prompting some Democrats to question why they should vote for any spending legislation at all.
University of Chicago professor Robert Pape said the unusually polarised US political climate in the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the growing power on the extreme wings of both parties could make it harder for party leaders to agree on a deal to reopen the government.
“The rules of politics are radically changing and we can’t know for sure where all of this is going to end,” said University of Chicago political science professor Robert Pape, who studies political violence.
“Each side would have to backtrack against tens of millions of truly aggressive supporters, their own constituents, which is going to be really hard for them to do,” he said.
Before the shutdown, Trump reached out to his own supporters with a deepfake video showing manipulated images of Schumer appearing to criticise Democrats while top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries stood next to him, with a crudely drawn sombrero and mustache imposed over his face.
“It was childish. It was petty,” Schumer told reporters. “It’s something that a five-year-old would do, not a president of the US. But it shows how unserious they are. They don’t give a damn about the harm they will cause with their shutdown.”
- Ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, sister Rehana also sentenced.
- Case relates to illegal allocation of a plot of land: local media.
- Prosecutors highlight political influence, collusion abuse of power.
DHAKA: A Bangladesh court sentenced British parliamentarian and former minister Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail in a corruption case involving the alleged illegal allocation of a plot of land, local media reported.
The verdict was delivered in absentia as Siddiq, her aunt and former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana — all co-accused in the case — were not present in court.
Hasina was sentenced to five years in jail and Rehana to seven, the local media reports said.
Hasina, who fled to neighbouring India in August 2024 at the height of an uprising against her government, was sentenced to death last month over her government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators during the protests.
Last week, she was handed a combined 21-year prison sentence in other corruption cases.
Prosecutors said that the land was unlawfully allocated through political influence and collusion with senior officials, accusing the three powerful defendants of abusing their authority to secure the plot, measuring roughly 13,610 square feet, during Hasina’s tenure as prime minister.
Most of the 17 accused were absent when the judgement was pronounced.
Siddiq, who resigned in January as the UK’s minister responsible for financial services and anti-corruption efforts following scrutiny over her financial ties to Hasina, has previously dismissed the allegations as a “politically motivated smear”.
Britain does not currently have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said his partner, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, is half-Indian and that one of their sons has the middle name “Sekhar” after Indian-American physicist and Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Speaking on Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath’s “WTF is?” podcast, Musk said: “I’m not sure if you know this, but my partner Shivon is half Indian,” adding: “One of my sons with her, his middle name is Sekhar after Chandrasekhar.”
Musk also spoke about Zilis’s background when asked where she grew up, saying she was given up for adoption as a baby and raised in Canada. “She grew up in Canada. She was given up for adoption when she was a baby. I think her father was like an exchange student at the university or something like that… I’m not sure the exact details,” he said.
Zilis joined Musk’s AI company, Neuralink, in 2017 and is currently the Director of Operations and Special Projects. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Yale University. Zilis has four children with Musk — twins Strider and Azure, daughter Arcadia and son Seldon Lycurgus.
Earlier this year, in March, it emerged that Musk had another child, his 14th, with Zilis.
“Discussed with Elon and, in light of beautiful Arcadia’s birthday, we felt it was better to also just share directly about our wonderful and incredible son Seldon Lycurgus,” Zilis said in a post on X, without saying when the child was born. Musk responded with a heart.
Her announcement came two weeks after conservative influencer Ashley St Clair said that she also recently had a child with Musk.
Appearing on the latest episode of Kamath’s podcast, Musk also said that America has “been an immense beneficiary of talent from India, but that seems to be changing now”.
His comments come at a time when the American dream for thousands of Indians is turning sour due to rising US visa restrictions and policy unpredictability.
— With additional input from Reuters
- Freeze applies to 19 countries already under US travel restrictions.
- Lakanwal, ex-CIA-backed fighter, charged with first-degree murder.
- Officials blame weak Joe Biden-era airlift vetting for shooter’s entry.
US President Donald Trump said Sunday his administration intends to maintain a pause on asylum decisions for “a long time” after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members near the White House, killing one of them.
When asked to specify how long it would last, Trump said he had “no time limit” in mind for the measure, which the Department of Homeland Security says is linked to a list of 19 countries already facing US travel restrictions.
“We don’t want those people,” Trump continued. “You know why we don’t want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn’t be in our country.”
The Trump administration issued the pause in the aftermath of the shooting in Washington on November 26, which left 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom dead and another guard critically wounded.
A 29-year-old Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the incident.
Lakanwal had been part of a CIA-backed “partner force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and entered the United States as part of a resettlement program following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Lakanwal had been granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, but officials have blamed what they called lax vetting by the government of Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, for his admission to US soil during the Afghan airlift.
Trump wrote after the shooting that he planned to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover.”
Asked which nationalities would be affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a list of 19 countries — including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar — which since June have all faced travel restrictions to the United States.
Radicalised in US
Authorities believe the Lakanwal was not radicalised until after he came to the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Sunday.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “This Week,” Noem said authorities think the alleged shooter was already living in Washington state when he became radicalised. Investigators are seeking more information from family members and others, Noem said.
Noem’s comments suggest Lakanwal, who was part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan, may have embraced extremism after arriving in the United States.
“We believe he was radicalised since he’s been here in this country,” Noem told NBC News. “We do believe it was through connections in his home community and state, and we’re going to continue to talk to those who interacted with him, who were his family members.”
Noem said officials have received “some participation” so far from people who knew Lakanwal and warned the US would pursue anyone connected to the shooting.
“Anyone who has the information on this needs to know that we will be coming after you, and we will bring you to justice,” Noem said.
After Wednesday’s attack, the Trump administration took steps to clamp down on some legal immigration, including a freeze on the processing of all asylum applications.
Noem said on Sunday, immigration officials would consider deporting people with active asylum cases if it was warranted.
“We are going to go through every single person that has a pending asylum claim,” she said.
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