A view of the US Capitol Building at Washington, DC, where the Senate rejected short-term spending measures in a last-ditch effort to avert a shutdown. The shutdown commenced hours after the Senate rejected a short-term spending measure that would have kept government operations afloat through Nov 21. Trump budget director Russell Vought, who has called for “less bipartisan” appropriations, threatened permanent layoffs last week in the event of a shutdown. “What’s changed is, President Trump is in the White House. And there isn’t any substantive reason why there ought to be a government shutdown,” the South Dakota Republican told reporters.