US government heading into a likely shutdown as Republicans argue over spending

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The US government is heading towards a shutdown as Congress remains at an impasse on 12 regular spending bills needed to fund federal agency programs. The shutdown will immediately disturb nearly four million Americans who are federal employees. A government shutdown happens when Congress fails to pass funding legislation that is signed into law by the US president. Should Congress fail to pass spending bills, a government shutdown could have an enormous impact on the country in areas from travel to clean drinking water. The US government funding expires at the first federal fiscal year on October 1st and a shutdown will effectively begin at 12:01am if Congress is not able to strike a deal and pass funding plans the president signs into law.