US government shutdown: Senate approves budget deal too late to avert second stoppage this year

Embarrassing setback for the Republican-controlled Congress is the second this year under Donald Trump.

Failure to pass a budget bill on time has become a familiar sight in Washington (Getty Images)

A federal government shutdown is under way in the US despite the Senate having approved a budget deal.

The embarrassing setback for the Republican-controlled Congress technically started at midnight, and is the second this year under Donald Trump.

The President played little role in attempts by party leaders earlier this week to head the shutdown off and end months of fiscal squabbling.

The Senate's approval of the budget and stopgap funding package means it will now be passed onto the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are divided along party lines and passage is uncertain.

The shutdown could be brief if the House acts before daybreak to approve the package from the Senate which would prevent any practical interruption in federal government business.

The US Office of Personnel Management has advised millions of federal employees to check with their agencies about whether they should report to work on 9 February.

The failure to pass a budget bill on time has become a familiar sight in Washington. The government shut down for three days earlier this year as Democrats blocked a bill to try and force a compromise on immigration, and Republicans pushed the government to shutter in 2013 as part of a bid to undo Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

With the deadline hours away, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul delayed a vote with a lengthy floor speech railing against what he called out-of-control government spending.

He lambasted his colleagues for abandoning their commitment to reducing the deficit and warned of bottomless spending on “perpetual war”.

“How come you were against President Obama’s deficits, and then how come you’re for Republican deficits? Isn’t that the very definition of intellectual dishonesty?" the libertarian senator said.

“I think the country’s worth a debate until three in the morning,” he added.

The budget bill would not replace a lapsed immigration programme known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that afforded some 800,000 young immigrants protection from deportation and work permits.

Mr Trump moved to end the initiative and has used the suspension to push for a larger immigration deal.