The U.S. government shutdown has become a foregone conclusion, as both parties' proposals in the Senate have failed to pass.

On October 1, according to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. federal government is set to shut down at midnight local time on Wednesday (12 PM Beijing time), after Senate Republicans and Democrats rejected each other's funding proposals. Trump issued a new threat to Democrats on Tuesday while signaling a willingness to discuss Medicaid funding issues further. The day before, leaders from both parties had just met at the White House for talks. Due to divisions within the Republican Party and pressure from the Democratic left, any protocol may need to wait until 12:01 AM after the shutdown begins to be reached. This shutdown will lead the U.S. into uncharted territory. White House officials have previously expressed hopes to downsize the government, claiming they would take this funding cutoff opportunity to lay off federal employees on a large scale, rather than just placing hundreds of thousands of civil servants on temporary leave.