With the U.S. Congress on the verge of shutting down most of the government, which would begin on Tuesday morning, President Obama delivered remarks in hopes of salvaging the situation, Reuters reported With the law funding thousands of routine government activities set to expire at midnight, U.S. Senate Democrats had rejected a proposal by the Republican-led House of Representatives to delay the president's signature healthcare law, for a year in return for temporary funding of the federal government beyond Monday,.
In a partisan vote of 54 to 46 in the Senate, the vote goes again to the House, where a senior Republican aide said the party would continue to seek the one-year delay. The measure also would require the president, senior administration officials and members of Congress and their aides to participate in Obamacare, news reports said.
Obama underscored that he was not 'resigned' to a shutdown, and intends to talk to congressional leaders later on Monday and for most of the week, however rejected an outright compromise.
A government shutdown would force many federal agencies and programs to close, or temporarily close for the first time in 17 years. This would put up to 1 million federal workers on unpaid leave, according to Reuters.
"The federal government is America's largest employer. These Americans are our neighbors," Obama said. "You don't get to extract a ransom for doing your job," he added.
Many civilian employees would be sent home, but the military would still function as normal.
"The government is such an important part of the entire economy, between the people it employs and the impact it has on consumer confidence," said Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group in New York. "The size of the selloff is logical given the stakes."
Obama has largely been criticized for not being part of any kind of compromise ever since the prospect of news of a government shutdown appeared imminent.
