WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hours before a government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans angrily blamed each other and refused to budge from their positions Tuesday, unable to find agreement or even negotiate as hundreds of thousands of federal workers stood to be furloughed or laid off.

The partisan standoff over healthcare and spending triggered the first U.S. government shutdown in almost seven years at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday. To avoid it, the Senate would have had to pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills.

But that bill fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate on Tuesday night. The vote was 55 in favor, 45 against.

After the vote, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued a memo

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