COLUMBIA, S.C. — With the federal government shutdown on pace to become the longest-ever in US history — leaving travel snarled at a growing number airports across the country, federal workers without pay, and tens of millions of Americans wondering how they will put food on the table for the foreseeable future — South Carolina’s governor didn’t mince words when asked about it Tuesday.

“This is absurd for the greatest country in the world to be stumbling along for just the lack of a few votes,” Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters gathered outside his State House office. “It is absurd. This will be a chapter in the greatest stupidities in the world, this kind of behavior.”

McMaster was referring to the handful of Democrats needed to vote with Republicans in the US Senate to overcome a fili

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