America
White House preparing for government shutdown
Washington, Sep 24
The White House late Wednesday said the federal government has already begun planning for a possible shutdown.
"It
is only prudent for the federal government to begin planning for the
possibility that the government could shut down," said White House
spokesman Josh Earnest.
The federal government will shut down on
October 1 if the Congress fails to pass a spending bill for the fiscal
year 2016 before then, reports Xinhua news agency.
While
Republican lawmakers have pledged to oppose any spending bill that
doesn't defund Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides
reproductive health and maternal and child health services, their
Democratic counterparts would block any bill that targets the
organization.
The federal government was shut down for 16 days in
2013 after the Congress failed to pass a spending bill over
Republicans' attack on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.