The government shutdown has begun. And it’s plunging the U.S. into a fresh cycle of uncertainty. President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

The first government shutdown in nearly seven years began at midnight after lawmakers failed to reach a deal on extending funding.

The US government is shutting down, with agencies activating contingency plans that sideline hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halt a wide range of services.

The U.S. Senate adjourned Tuesday without reaching a deal on extending federal funding, meaning a federal government shutdown is expected to begin at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Ahead of Wednesday's government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday posted a banner in large type on its homepage blaming the shutdown on the "Radical Left," an allegation that an ethics group said was a "blatant violation" of the Hatch Act.

A scientific study of pollution from about 200 coal-fired power plants during the 2018-2019 government shutdown found they “significantly increased their particulate matter emissions due to the EPA's furlough.” Soot pollution is connected to thousands of deaths per year in the United States.

The government shutdown means further disruption for the US Education Department, which has seen half of its employees laid off by the Trump administration.

The government shutdown means there could be no jobs report this Friday unless things are resolved before then.