For the first time in 17 years, our government is officially shut down. Just hours before the midnight deadline, the House Republicans passed a third government funding proposal, which included another absurd attempt to undermine Obamacare. As expected, the Senate rejected that version, and called on the House to pass a clean continuing resolution. At 1 a.m., House Speaker John Boehner tried to appear reasonable, by calling for a bipartisan committee between the two chambers. Democrats have been asking for such a meeting for months, however they are unlikely to accept that proposal now, as they continue to call for a clean government funding bill.

After Republicans refused to pass a clean bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid laid into Speak Boehner, saying, “You know with a bully, you cannot let them slap you around. Because they slap you around today, they slap you around five or six times tomorrow. We are not going to be bullied.” House Republicans proved that they would rather furlough workers, slash food assistance, and cripple our economy than back down from their efforts to kill Obamacare.

As of today, 800,000 federal workers will be sent home without pay, the government will not process loans for new homes or businesses, new disability and unemployment claims will take longer to process, and the CDC will be limited in its ability to fight disease. And, these are only a few of the effects of a government shutdown.

As President Obama said before the deadline, “One faction, of one party, in one House of Congress, in one branch of government, doesn't get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election.” Right now, millions of Americans are wondering how long it will take for House Republicans to realize that.