US Senate struggles to end govt shutdown

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be unable to report for work on Monday, as the US Senate struggles to end a government shutdown, report agencies.

Some will not be paid until the stalemate is resolved.

A rare Sunday session of the Senate yielded no agreement between Democrats and Republicans, with immigration one of the main sticking points.

Essential services will still run but famous sites such as the Statue of Liberty have already been affected.

The monument was closed on Sunday but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would dip into state funds to pay the daily employment bill and reopen the popular tourist site.

Support for the bill was uncertain, after Republicans and Democrats spent all day on Sunday trying to strike a deal, only to go home for the night short of an agreement.

Markets remained calm on Monday morning as world stocks and US bond markets largely shrugged off Washington's standoff even as the dollar continued its pullback. US stock futures edged lower.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said late Sunday that an overnight vote on a measure to fund government operations through Feb. 8 was canceled and would be held at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) on Monday.

Up until Monday, most federal workers were not directly affected by the shutdown that began at midnight on Friday.

Many still awaited notification on whether they are "essential" employees or not, determining whether they must report to their offices.

Even late Sunday, the federal Office of Personnel Management provided little guidance. It said on its website that "federal government operations vary by agency."