WASHINGTON (AP) – The government shutdown has begun. So has the finger-pointing.
President Donald Trump says Democrats wanted to give him “a nice present” to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration.
He says Democrats “could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, R-Ky., walks to his office early Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday, halting all but the most essential operations. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president is trying to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans in the November elections “in order to power through this mess.”
It’s a striking display of Washington’s dysfunction as the shutdown halts all but the most essential operations.
Congress has scheduled an unusual Saturday session to begin considering a three-week version of the short-term spending measure – and to let the public know they’re at work as the shutdown starts.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., walks to the chamber after a closed meeting with fellow democrats on Capitol Hill, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

With no apparent indications of a breakthrough in the Senate to avoid a government shutdown, the Capitol is illuminated in Washington, Friday evening, Jan. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Photographers take a picture of the Ohio Clock shortly after midnight early Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington. The federal government shut down at midnight, halting all but the most essential operations. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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