WASHINGTON — Congress blew past a midnight Wednesday morning funding deadline, triggering the U.S. government’s first shutdown in nearly seven years — and the third under President Donald Trump.

The White House’s budget office ordered agencies to begin executing their plans for a funding lapse, shuttering the government aside from essential duties, disrupting the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Americans and upending many public services.

With the two parties locked in a stalemate over health care subsidies and using the moment to frame the 2026 midterm elections, the shutdown — and its economic effects — could be prolonged. If the shutdown lasts three weeks, the unemployment rate could spike to 4.6%-4.7% from the 4.3% in August as furloughed workers are counted as temporarily unemploye

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