On Saturday, the United States was just hours away from closing federal institutions, as Republicans and Democrats put forward various temporary measures to prevent a closure that would affect issues ranging from access to national parks to Washington's massive support for Ukraine.

All government services except vital ones will be halted at midnight on Saturday (04:00 GMT Sunday) if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement, which will be the first since 2019 - and the salaries of millions of federal and military employees will be postponed.

A state of uncertainty prevails over the two chambers of Congress (Representatives and Senate), as a small group of hard-line Republican representatives reject any temporary measure that would avoid closure.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said there would be a vote Saturday on a new measure that would keep government services available for another 45 days at current spending levels but without any aid to Ukraine.

Passing the bill will require broad support from Democratic representatives.
McCarthy said that if President Joe Biden wants to put pressure on the project, "the shutdown is on him."

The White House insists that the real negotiations must be between McCarthy and the Republican hardliners who scuttled a temporary funding measure on Friday, sparking growing chaos within the Republican Party ahead of next year's presidential election.

Biden said on Saturday morning on the X platform, “There are those in Congress now who are sowing many seeds of division, and they are ready to shut down the government tonight,” adding, “It is unacceptable.”

The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to vote on a separate temporary bill later Saturday, which includes continuing funding for support for Ukraine.

Asked if he was concerned about hawkish Republican threats to remove him from office if a bill passes the House with Democratic support, McCarthy replied, "If someone wants to fire me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try."

While all vital government services will continue, the closure starting Sunday will affect the majority of national parks - from the famous Yosemite Park and Yellowstone Park in the west to the Everglades in Florida.

As student loan payments resume in October, officials also said Friday that major activities at the federal Office of Student Aid will continue for a few weeks.
But continuing the closure for a long period may cause greater disruptions.

Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, said that the closure puts the world's largest economy at "unnecessary" risk.

According to Brainard, the risks include flight delays, as air traffic controllers will be required to work without salaries, and families may be deprived of some benefits.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the closure could delay infrastructure modernization work.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report issued on Friday that “in the near term, the government closure will only reduce the gross domestic product by 0.2 percentage points for each week it continues.”

“However, cutting off vital US trade functions would also undermine the United States’ overall credibility as a trading partner, impede ongoing negotiations and hamper export control enforcement capabilities,” the report added.

This crisis casts a shadow over Biden's policy of arming and financing Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion. Hard-line Republicans who are blocking the budget are demanding that aid to Ukraine be halted.

While a majority of Republicans in Congress continue to stand behind US support for Ukraine, the shutdown will at least raise questions about the political feasibility of renewing the flow of billions of dollars in aid.