Shut Down: The federal government shuts down early today as Congress failed to avert a government shutdown for the first time since 1996, as House Republicans declined to fund the government unless it was paired with legislative concessions from Senate Democrats, The Washington Post reports.
What It Means: The federal judiciary plans to use a fund to stay open for two work weeks, while regulators and Washington courts will follow shutdown plans. The U.S. Department of Justice would curtail or postpone civil litigation during a government shutdown and would furlough 17,742 employees, or about 15 percent of its workforce starting tomorrow, according to a contingency plan.
Dream Team: Theodore Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and David Boies of Boies, Schiller & Flexner are joining forces on same-sex marriage again, and this time they hope a lawsuit challenging Virginia's gay marriage and civil union bans may provide the vehicle for a final U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue, Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal reports.
Hard Fight: The U.S. Department of Justice opens another front in North Carolina in its battle against voter discrimination, and election law experts say the agency faces higher hurdles than a similar push in Texas, Todd Ruger of The National Law Journal reports.
Close Call: An unemployed Jacksonville felon has been indicted on charges he fired a high-powered rifle shot into the home of federal Judge Timothy Corrigan in June and missing him by inches, the Florida Times-Union reports.
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