EDGE OF THE CLIFF: Congress appears to be at an impasse with a government shutdown looming

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• The federal government is set to shut down at midnight.
• A short-term funding bill passed the House on Thursday, but Senate Democrats and a few Republican senators have signaled they could oppose the measure.
• Both parties are blaming each other for the impending shutdown, with no clear solution in sight.

Congress began Friday careening toward a partial shutdown of the federal government, as a funding bill appears stalled in the Senate with the two parties divided on key issues.

The Republican-led House on Thursday passed a short-term funding bill that would keep the doors of the government open for another four weeks. But Senate Democrats and a handful of Republican senators have signaled they would oppose the measure. Due to Senate rules, such opposition would make it impossible to get through the chamber.

If no bill passes by midnight, the federal government will enter a partial shutdown, with all nonessential services going into a freeze.

(Read more about what happens in a shutdown»)

Senate disagreement on key issues

The bulk of the resistance comes from Senate Democrats. They do not want to pass a short-term funding bill - known as a continuing resolution (CR) - because it does not contain a permanent fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program, which is set to expire in March.

The DACA program protects from deportation roughly 700,000 unauthorized immigrants who entered the US as minors. President Donald Trump announced in September that he would end the program but gave Congress six months to codify the program.

Democrats worry that without attaching the codification to must-pass legislation like the CR, Republicans will not agree to a separate DACA solution.

Some Republicans have also expressed concern with the legislation.

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee have bristled at the idea of using another CR to fund the government, because it does not adequately fund defense spending - and its short-term nature leaves the military in limbo. Additionally, Sen. Rand Paul is generally against the CR due to the bill's projected deficit impact.

The CR needs 60 votes to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate. So every Republican must vote for the bill, and - since Sen. John McCain is still receiving treatment in Arizona for a brain tumor - 10 Democrats must also be on board.

A senior Democratic aide told Business Insider that there are enough votes to prevent the bill from passing.

One possible solution to the impasse would come in passing a CR that only lasts a few days to give both sides time to reach a broader deal on DACA and spending caps.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted in support of an even shorter-term CR late Thursday.

"I support an idea floated by my @SenateGOP colleagues: pass a clean CR for a few days to give us a hard, final deadline & keep both sides at the table," Schumer said. "We'll reach a deal that fully funds our military & the opioid fight, CHIP, vets, pensions, disaster aid & protects Dreamers."

Additionally, some Republicans advocated for the idea on Thursday.

"I don't know whether we're close to an agreement or far from agreement, but either way this makes sense to keep the government funded and require us to continue negotiations until we reach a conclusion," Sen. Jerry Moran told Business Insider.

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said he was open to any solution that prevented a shutdown.

"I'm open to anything that actually gets us consensus on the CHIP program and a number of the other things that we're doing," he said. "But I am absolutely not going to be a party to shutting down the government. It doesn't make sense. There's a lot of people at stake."

Blame game

The stalemate in the Senate has also ignited early stages of the blame game, with each party pointing a finger at the other side.

Republicans are targeting the Senate Democrats, saying their obstruction is the core problem preventing an agreement from happening.

"Now, it's up to the Senate. Now will Senator Schumer and the Senate Democrats do the right thing by the American people, or will they force a government shutdown?" House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement Thursday.

In fact, House Republicans have even taken it as far as to start a website schumershutdown.com, to attack the Senate Minority Leader.

Democrats, on the other hand, say that the GOP should have included them their initial discussions, and they point to potential defectors in their own party as evidence the blame should not rest on their shoulders.

Trump weighs in

Trump weighed in on the impasse using his preferred platform Friday morning.

"Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives," Trump tweeted. "Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!"

The rhetoric is typical of Trump's argument over the past few days, but a good portion of the disagreement between the two parties stems from the president's shifting position on a DACA deal and his "shithole countries" comments during a bipartisan meeting.

The White House said Trump would not depart for his resort at Mar-a-Lago in Florida until Congress passes legislation. That means the president risks missing a party in honor of the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, which will reportedly cost $100,000 for a pair of guests.