WASHINGTON (AP) — Party leaders in Congress have long criticized government shutdowns as toxic and destructive. “Always a bad idea,” former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of ...

OPINION: Congress needs authority to pick a new Government Accountability Office chief — or the president could launch a ...

WASHINGTON — The federal government has shut down after lawmakers in Congress failed to strike a deal on a funding bill, forcing agencies to furlough their "non-essential" employees. Under the ...

The Senate voted to advance a short-term funding extension on Tuesday evening, a key step toward averting a partial government shutdown at the end of the week. The procedural vote was 68 to 13.

The federal government faces a shutdown if Congress fails to pass a funding bill by the midnight deadline on Oct. 1. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but Democratic votes are needed in ...

The Capitol is seen at dusk as Democrats and Republicans in Congress are angrily blaming each other and refusing to budge from their positions on funding the government Tuesday. (J. Scott ...

When the government shut down for a few weeks in October 2013, then-President Barack Obama made sure to blame conservative Republicans for refusing to pass any short-term spending bill that included ...

If the government shuts down after Tuesday, millions of federal workers will be at risk of missing a paycheck. Members of Congress, on the other hand, won't have to worry about that. That's in large ...