Aside from the routinely expiring debt ceiling, the practice of government shutdowns may be the most dramatic, unique and objectively silly quirks of how Washington, DC, works.

Questions over Senate support for President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul took center stage as lawmakers weighed the bill’s costs and political risks. The debate turned on whether a handful of Republican holdouts would join unified Democrats to stall the plan.

Washington lawmakers remain at a standstill over reopening the government, showing few signs of progress as President Donald Trump says layoffs are “taking place right now.”