White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Friday that "transition activities will be restricted" in the event of a government shutdown.
Congress must pass a spending bill by midnight Friday to avoid a government shutdown after pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and his top adviser, Elon Musk, caused Republicans to pull back from a bipartisan bill that would have kept the government funded through March.
"Transition activities will be restricted," Jean-Pierre said, according to Politico. "We're doing everything to ensure a smooth transition, but the choice to allow a transition to move forward is in the hands of Republicans in Congress."
Jean-Pierre also pushed back on Trump and other Republicans who have blamed Democrats for the failure to pass a spending bill, saying, "This is something that Republicans should own here. This is not for the president to fix. This is not for us to fix."
The House is set to vote on a new spending bill on Friday evening, just hours before the deadline.