White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney speaks during a briefing on a possible government shutdown at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 19, 2018. White House is preparing for a government shutdown, as the chances of a short-term government funding bill passed by the Senate are dimmed, said Mulvaney on Friday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- White House officials said Friday that there's a 50 percent chance of a government shutdown, as U.S. lawmakers are locked in race to reach a deal.
"We were operating under sort of a 30 percent shutdown... I think we're ratcheting it up now, " White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said in an impromptu statement to the press.
White House press office said White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short will also weigh in on the matter at a later press briefing.
The statement came as the U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on a spending bill that the House of Representatives has passed late Thursday. The Senate has until midnight Friday to pass the spending bill to avoid government shutdown.
The bill passed in the House on a largely party-line vote, boding an ominous omen for the Senate vote as 60 yays are needed to pass bill. The Republicans currently hold 51 seats, after losing a surprising battle in the Alabama senate race.
Both parties traded accusations on who should be blamed for the possible shutdown. U.S. President Donald Trump has launched scathing remarks at Democrats, saying the Democrats "want a shutdown" .
Immigration reform has stood out as a thorny issue in the effort to reach a deal, as the Democratic Party is opposed the administration's intention to rescind current immigration policies including Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which will determine the fate of some 800,000 beneficiaries, known as dreamers.
U.S. government shuts down when the legislative branch and executive branch fails to pass legislation to appropriate funding for government agencies.
