Last night a GOP controlled Congress passed the Continuing Resolution bill which would provide funding for the government past the end of the Sept 30 fiscal year end. To pass it, Boehner invoked clauses which antagonized Democrats even more. Which is why now that the bill is in the Senate, it appears to have hit a dead end. As Goldman explains, today the bill will likely die, which means that with a one week recess coming up from the government next week, government is about to be well and truly shut down.

From Goldman's Alec Phillips:

Senate likely to vote down House-passed continuing resolution. The House passed legislation late last night to keep the government running through Nov. 18, in the absence of longer-term appropriations measures that are unlikely to be enacted ahead of the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. This vote gained some attention after the initial vote in the House failed due to a combination of Democratic and conservative Republican opposition. The discord will continue today, as the Senate looks very likely to vote down the House’s version of the bill, which includes a smaller amount of funding for FEMA to provide disaster aid (and the cost of this funding is offset with cuts to renewable energy programs). The Senate will most likely take up its own bill instead, which provide about double the disaster aid (the difference between the chambers is about $3.5bn) and does not offset the cost. While a government shutdown seems like a bigger risk than it did a few days ago, this still looks unlikely.

Alas, unlikely in DC means certain. And with the republicans pulling all stops to make the president look powerless, we are confident the US will enter the next fiscal year in full shutdown status.