Like any home or business, the federal government must pay its bills: Congress has little time to prevent a government shutdown.

President Trump said Democrats would be "purely to blame" for a government shutdown after House Republicans passed a funding bill that is uncertain to pass in the Senate.

Senate Democrats have vowed to shut down the federal government rather than support a House-approved budget resolution to avert a pending government shutdown at the end of the day Friday.

Senate Democrats say privately that they will not allow the government to shut down Saturday, despite growing pressure from activists and liberal lawmakers who want them to kill a GOP-crafted six-month stopgap spending bill.

Senate Democrats made it clear they will not be supporting a bill passed by House Republicans to avert a shutdown.