ALMOST two million US civil servants went without pay today after Congress failed to agree a budget.

However, just as the Star went to press last night, it appeared that the Senate had passed a short-term funding Bill to cover spending until February 8, after extracting a promise from Republican leaders to address the fate of people covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) scheme.

Democrats want the Obama-era scheme, which protects almost 700,000 people brought to the US illegally as children from deportation, to be extended.