Much of the federal government is in the process of shutting down. With Congress unable to agree on a stop-gap spending bill, money for continuing operations ran out at midnight. Hundreds of thousands of government employees have been told to stop working — although President Obama says some vital functions will continue.

The Republican National Committee had said it would not work with CNN or NBC on campaign debates if they went ahead with the films. And the filmmaker who was working with CNN says he's pulled the plug because Democrats wouldn't cooperate with him. NBC says a Clinton mini-series didn't fit its plans.

With lawmakers in Washington at loggerheads over the same issues they've been arguing about for more than five years, about 800,000 federal workers are being told to stay home. Essential services will continue.

In his interview with President Obama on Monday, NPR's Steve Inskeep says some of the president's remarks were reminiscent of what he said in 2011 during the debt ceiling crisis. One stark difference, however, was the president's firmness. "Absolutely I will not negotiate," the president said.

As the president tries to convince the public that Republicans bear the blame for budgetary gridlock, he faces an entirely different political and media landscape than in the last government shutdown nearly 18 years ago.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with President Obama about the fight in Congress over the Affordable Care Act and funding the federal government, as well as the coming debt ceiling battle.

John Boehner finds himself in a position he had hoped to avoid all year. With no deal on the budget, questions about whether he can effectively lead the House will only grow louder.

Disruptions in government services will slow growth, at least in the short term. But economists say they can't refine their predictions because they have no idea how long the shutdown might last or how many federal workers may be furloughed.

Before parts of the government began shutting down, the House and Senate bounced a series of stopgap spending bills between the chambers. The House would insert language to delay or limit the president's health care law, and the Senate would reject the Obamacare language and send the bill back. The two chambers did not reach an agreement before the midnight deadline.

A default on federal obligations could have global effects. Federal borrowing authority expires in the middle of this month. House Republicans have said they will not extend the debt ceiling unless President Obama accepts a long list of their agenda items. Steve Inskeep talks to the president about the deadline to raise the debt ceiling.