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The Shutdown: Why Did It Happen?

The government will shut down at midnight, but many people are asking how did the country get to this point in the first place.
A pedestrian walks past the U.S. Capitol as congressional lawmakers work on a deal to fund the government and avert a shutdown by midnight Friday, on December 21, 2017 in Washington, DC.

The government will shut down at midnight, but many people are asking how did the country get to this point in the first place.

Much of the issue dates back to early October when the country's fiscal year began. At that point, Congress still had not passed a budget.

Instead, lawmakers passed a continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government through December 8.

RELATED: Senate Democrats derail bill to avert shutdown

Congress would take a similar approach before yet another government shutdown on December 22. That continuing resolution was set up to fund the government through January 19.

However, this time around, something fundamentally different happened in the Capitol Building.

Some senators decided it was time to stop passing continuing resolutions. Many Democratic senators also chose not to stike a budget deal unless Republicans would come to an agreement to protect DREAMers from deportation.

So far, both Republicans and Democrats have yet to come to an agreement on that issue.

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