Jenny Gathright

The partial shutdown of the U.S. government, which is affecting more than 800,000 federal workers and numerous government agencies, also has consequences for the Violence Against Women Act, which expired at midnight on Friday.

Separately, both the House and the Senate passed spending deals that included clauses that would have extended VAWA until Feb. 8.

But because the law's future became inextricably tied to the larger budget debate, which hinges on a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over funding for a border wall, it was not reauthorized.

Updated at 3:22 p.m. ET

Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice, while protesters gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to voice their anger at the decision.

Kavanaugh's confirmation felt nearly inevitable by Friday afternoon, when two previously undecided senators, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced they would support him. But that near-certainty did not stop protesters from gathering outside the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court early Saturday.