Impasse in Congress shuts down services

US government closures just the beginning of more fiscal trouble

Believe it or not, the government of the world's largest economy and only superpower has been on a partial shutdown since Tuesday. The unprecedented shutdown - the first in 17 years - that could put more than 800,000 federal workers on unpaid leave, came after the US Congress failed to find a compromise on a bill to fund government operations.

Though the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had tried to broker a deal late into Monday night, the shutdown seemed inevitable after the Senate rejected the US Congress proposal that the temporary funding for the government should include a delay in the implementation of US President Barack Obama's health care program. No one knows if a compromise can be reached in the coming days.