WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The White House is preparing Friday to direct federal agencies to consider shutdown procedures after House Republicans left for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded.

A federal shutdown after Sept. 30 seems all but certain unless Speaker Kevin McCarthy can convince his rebellious hard-right flank of Republicans to allow Congress to approve a temporary funding measure while they work on the annual spending plan. But the House is not expected back until Tuesday, leaving just five days to resolve his standoff.

“We got members working, and hopefully we’ll be able to move forward on Tuesday to pass these bills,” McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol.

The standoff with House Republicans over government funding puts at risk a range of federal programs and activities — and could wreck havoc with the U.S. economy.

During a shutdown, the potential impacts include:

  • Military and law enforcement officials would go unpaid.
  • The disaster relief fund of the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be depleted.
  • Clinical trials on new prescription drugs could be delayed.
  • Ten thousand children could lose access to care through Head Start.
  • Environmental and food safety inspections would get backlogged.
  • Food aid for Americans through the Women, Infants and Children program could be cut off for nearly 7 million pregnant women, mothers, infants and children.

With the Oct. 1 start of a new fiscal year and no funding in place, the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget is preparing to advise federal agencies to review and update their shutdown plans, according to an OMB official. The start of this process suggests that federal employees could be informed next week if they’re to be furloughed.

President Joe Biden has been quick to blame the likely shutdown on House Republicans, who are intent on spending cuts beyond those laid out in a June deal. Many on the right flank, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., are aligned with Donald Trump; they opposed the budget deal McCarthy reached with Biden earlier this year and are trying to dismantle it.

Trump has urged the House Republicans on, pushing them to hold the line against federal spending.

“Any progress we are making is in spite of, not due to McCarthy,” Gaetz posted on social media, deriding the speaker for having sent lawmakers home for the weekend. “Pathetic.”

Gaetz and his allies say they want to see the House engage in the hard work of legislating — even if it pushes the country into a shutdown — as they pursue sizable reductions and cuts.

The House Rules Committee announced it would meet Friday afternoon to begin preparing those bills, which historically require weeks of floor debate, with hundreds of amendments, but now are slated to be rushed to the floor for next week’s votes.

The last and longest budget-related shutdown on record was for 35 days during Trump’s administration, as he insisted on funding to build a wall along the U.S. southern border that Democrats and some Republicans refused. Because some agencies already had approved funding, it was a partial closure.

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