The U.S. government began a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to approve the 2026 budget before a midnight funding deadline, though disruptions were expected to be limited as the House set to move early next week to ratify a Senate-backed deal.
In a memo published on Friday, Russell Vought, the director of the office of management and budget (OMB), directed affected agencies, including the departments of defense, homeland security, education, health and human services, labor, transportation as well as housing and urban development, to "execute plans for an orderly shutdown".
The U.S. Senate on Friday evening approved a funding package just hours before government funding was set to expire.
Local media reported that negotiations over new funding for the Department of Homeland Security collapsed after Democrats reacted angrily to the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.
The U.S. government had a record-breaking shutdown last year. Analysts said the current shutdown once again highlights the structural dilemmas of U.S. fiscal policy.
U.S. government enters partial shutdown, resolution expected soon
U.S. government enters partial shutdown, resolution expected soon
The death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip has risen to 71,769 since the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted on Oct 7, 2023, with the number of injuries reaching 171,483, Gaza's health authorities said on Saturday.
In the past 48 hours, hospitals in Gaza received 17 more bodies, including 12 new deaths and five bodies recovered from the rubble, the authorities said.
Since the ceasefire agreement took effect on Oct 10, 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 509 people and wounded 1,405 others, according to the Gaza health authorities.
Israel will reopen the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt for pedestrian traffic in both directions on Sunday, an Israeli government-affiliated body announced in a statement on Friday.
Israel's office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said in the statement that exit from and entry into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing "will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission."
The move is part of a U.S.-proposed Gaza ceasefire plan. Israel said last Sunday that it would reopen the Rafah crossing after recovering the body of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza, which was retrieved from Gaza earlier this week.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 71,769
