The White House is planning to blame Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, for a government shutdown should Congress fail to pass a spending bill by midnight, a person familiar with the matter said.
White House officials expect a Senate vote planned for noon on a House-passed spending bill would likely fail. Sixty votes are required to advance the measure in the Senate.
The White House plans to say that Congress is abdicating its constitutional responsibilities.
“There’s right now a block of Senate Democrats who are looking to bring it to a close or to shut it down,” White House legislative director Marc Short said on MSNBC Friday. He said the same Democrats had criticized Republicans who sought to shut down the government in the past as “arsonists” or “hostage-takers.”
National parks and the Transportation Security Administration will stay open, the officials said on the planning call, but federal employees will work without pay until the shutdown is resolved.
Republican leaders in the House told members they can go back to their districts before the Senate acts on a government funding bill, raising questions about how lawmakers will proceed if the Senate approved a bill different from the House version and a final House vote is needed.