U.S. government shutdown to start after budget negotiations fail

The U.S. federal government was due to start partially shutting down on Tuesday after lawmakers failed to compromise on an emergency spending bill before a midnight deadline. Competing spending measures flew back and forth between the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate late into Monday night, but Congress deadlocked over Republican efforts to use a temporary spending bill as a means to delay implementation of President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law. It is unclear how long a government shutdown will last. The funding gap will leave some essential functions like national security intact but sharply cut many regulatory agencies, furloughing up to a million federal workers.