Washington, DC [US], October 2 (ANI): White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday (local time) alleged that Democrats in Congress have 'officially shut down' the United States government.

'Democrats in Congress have officially shut down the United States government. House Republicans passed a nonpartisan, clean piece of legislation to extend current government funding until November 21st, but nearly every single Democrat senator voted against this bill. This was the exact same bill that Democrats approved six months ago in March, just adjusted for inflation,' Leavitt told reporters at the White House.

'This is the same kind of clean funding bill that Democrats passed 13 separate times when they held the majority during Joe Biden's administration,' Leavitt said.

Karoline Leavitt accused the Democrat party of playing 'pure partisan politics' and asserted that the United States cannot afford to provide 'taxpayer-funded free healthcare to illegals'

'So the American people woke up this morning and asked the obvious question: Why is the government shut down right now? The answer is pure partisan politics being played by the Democrat party. The Democrats shut down the government because President Trump and the Republicans will not force American taxpayers to pay for free healthcare for illegal aliens. America is $37 trillion in debt. We cannot afford to provide taxpayer-funded free healthcare to illegals who broke the law to enter our country...'

Earlier on Tuesday, the US federal government officially shut down after a deadlocked Congress failed to pass a funding measure to keep the government running -- and the Capitol is unclear as to what would follow, CNN reported.

Leaders of both parties are privately and publicly adamant that they will not be blamed for the funding lapse: Republicans insist Democrats need to simply agree to extend current funding for another seven weeks.

Democrats refuse to do so without major concessions for lending their votes to pass any funding measure in the Senate, as per CNN.

Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are placing the blame squarely on US President Donald Trump and Republicans.

'After months of making life harder and more expensive, Donald Trump and Republicans have now shut down the federal government because they do not want to protect the healthcare of the American people,' the Democratic leaders said in a joint statement. (ANI)