U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is surrounded by reporters as he returns to the Capitol for a vote after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, as deadlines for a federal government shutdown loom in Washington, U.S. December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government was to begin a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday after Republican senators failed to muster the votes needed to approve $5 billion that President Donald Trump wants for a border wall fiercely opposed by Democrats.
Trump sought to blame Democrats, who responded by reminding him that he said last week he would be "proud" to shut down key parts of the federal government in order to get funding for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
