Hard-line Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected the bill proposed by their leader to temporarily fund the government, making it almost certain that federal agencies will wind down, at least in part, starting Sunday.

The House rejected, by a vote of 232 to 198, a measure to fund the government for another 30 days to allow more time for cross-party negotiations. That bill would have curbed spending and imposed restrictions on immigration and border security, but had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.

THE Senatemeanwhile, with cross-party support, is pushing a similar bill, a so-called “continuing resolution,” or CR, to continue funding the government through Nov. 17.

“It’s not the end yet. I have other ideas,” he said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, after the bill he had promoted was voted down. He did not specify what these “ideas” were about.

Unless a budget is passed and signed into law by President Joe Biden before midnight Saturday (7:01 a.m. Sunday, Greek time), many federal agencies (National Parks, Securities and Exchange Commission, and others) will shut down, and nearly 4 million federal employees will not receive their salary. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen he earlier warned that a government “shutdown” would undermine the economic progress the US has made by freezing programs for small and medium-sized businesses and delaying major infrastructure projects.

President Biden said such a development would have serious consequences for the armed forces.

“We are in the midst of a Republican civil war that has been going on for months and now threatens a catastrophic government shutdown,” he said. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Many hard-line Republicans have threatened to oust McCarthy as House Speaker if a Democratic-backed bill passes. But this is inevitable, since after the Parliament the bills must also be approved by the Senate, where the Democrats have the majority (51-49). Other Republican moderates express displeasure with the attitude of their colleagues who keep blocking the process from moving forward. “You can’t start a fire, call the fire department, turn off the water and then blame the firefighters because they don’t put it out. This is happening now,” Dan Crenshaw told Reuters.