A school trip of excitable 10- and 11-year-olds was greeted by closure signs Wednesday as their tour of the US Congress was canceled after a government shutdown took effect.

Many federal departments and agencies have been shut since midnight, and thousands of public sector workers furloughed, after lawmakers failed to agree on a funding deal to keep government lights on.

But Cami Hamlin, principal of the Georgia school some 700 miles from Washington, saw some irony for her students amid the inconvenience.

“It’s unfortunate as we’ve been teaching the kids they’ve got to manage their own budget,” said Hamlin, who wore a Springdale Elementary School T-shirt.

She stood with dozens of other tourists in front of the Congress building where a deadlock between President Donald Trump’s Republic

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