The US Embassy in India announced on Saturday, January 31, a temporary reduction in its social media activity. In a post on X, the US Embassy said that the activity on its social media account was being curtailed due to the ongoing partial government shutdown in the United States.
It said that the account will not be updated regularly until full operations resume. In a post on X, the Embassy said essential communications, including updates on safety and security, will continue to be shared.
“Because of the lapse in appropriations, this
Not just the US embassy, the US embassy in Dhaka of Bangladesh, too, had issued a similar statement as the country faced a partial government shutdown.
The American government went into a partial shutdown on Saturday just hours after the US Senate met to approve a revised package for the funding bills. However, the House of Representatives is not expected to approve the changes until Monday, February 2, at the earliest.
The US Senate had voted on Friday, January 30, to separate extended funding for the US Department of Homeland Security. The development came after it reached a deal with the White House to put it off for some days to negotiate Democrats’ demands for restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including requiring agents to wear body cameras and no masks, ABC News. has reported. In the vote, only five Republicans voted against it.
The vote was 71-29. Also Read | US government partial shutdown: What happens next, will it affect SNAP, other fundings?
After this, the bill will now be tabled in the House where Speaker Mile Johnson will be bringing the package to the floor. Only with the bill reaching majority that it will be presented before US President Donald Trump.
The path to the Senate vote was cleared earlier on Friday when Republican Senator Lindsey Graham lifted his hold after securing a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune to hold a vote on banning sanctuary cities in the coming weeks, according to ABC News.
Meanwhile, Mike Johnson has exuded confidence that he has voted to end the partial shutdown. In an interview with NBC, Mike Johnson said, “I am confident that we’ll do it at least by Tuesday. We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town.”
This is the second time Congress has failed to fund the government since Trump returned to office last year.
Earlier, the federal government went into a 43-day shutdown during the autumn. It was the longest shutdown that halted food aid for millions of households and put hundreds out of jobs.
