The U.S. government shut down most operations on Wednesday due to unresolved funding disagreements between Congress and the White House, marking the 15th shutdown since 1981. This shutdown threatens to be prolonged and costly, potentially leading to the loss of thousands of federal jobs and halting numerous government services. The shutdown is expected to cost about $400 million daily. Republican President Donald Trump, who previously pushed for radical federal government restructuring resulting in 300,000 job cuts by December, warned Democrats that the shutdown could lead to more job eliminations. Flashback: The longest U.S. shutdown, which lasted over 35 days in 2018-2019, ended partly due to air traffic controller sickouts causing extensive flight delays.