 -- With Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill at odds over the federal budget, the country has been forced its first federal government shutdown in nearly two decades. Members of Congress blew a midnight deadline to avert the shutdown that is affecting every federal department and agency -- from the Department of Education to the United States Postal Service to the Environmental Protection Agency. ABC News will be tracking all of the political maneuvering in Washington throughout the first full day of the shutdown on our Shutdown Countdown live blog.