Day Seven of Shutdown Begins with No Sign of Agreement Between House, Senate

WASHINGTON – Today is the seventh day of the government shutdown in Washington and there is still no sign that it will end anytime soon.

Both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are still at odds over a spending bill that would bring more than 800,000 federal employees back to work, with the main sticking point being the Affordable Care Act. Republicans in the House want to delay funding for the ACA while Senate Democrats and the President both say that the funding must be included.

The House passed three continuing resolutions to fully fund the government ahead of the federal government shutdown Tuesday, but the Senate rejected each one. Meanwhile, House Republicans have yet to act on a spending bill that was approved in the Senate. Instead, they’ve opted to pass various appropriations bills to fund certain areas of the government.

Lawmakers will continue to work on a spending bill this week in Washington.

In addition to a need to act on the spending bill, Congress is also quickly approaching the Oct. 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, or face a first-ever default on its financial obligations.