BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) -- Louisiana leaders voiced concerns for residents and blamed each political party as a federal government shutdown began after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement.

Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused Democrats of causing the shutdown, comparing it to a hostage situation.

"Democrats are holding the American government HOSTAGE so they can give FREE health care to ILLEGAL ALIENS and force $1.5 TRILLION in new partisan spending demands," Johnson said.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the shutdown, telling Democrats that they ought to get "prepared to deal with the mud." He said Republicans wanted to keep the current budget and avoid a shutdown until before Thanksgiving for time to negotia

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