Federal government shuts down as Rand Paul holds up key vote

WASHINGTON — The federal government shut down for the second time in less than a month overnight as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul prevented a two-year budget deal from passing Thursday.
Though a massive budget deal and government funding package still was expected to pass by morning, congressional negotiators were scrambling all day Thursday to lock in enough votes in the House, and that was before Paul, a Republican, made public his dissatisfaction with the deal, which would rais