If Congress fails to come up with a temporary funding deal on Friday, the federal government may shut down within hours.

Lawmakers are rushing to reach a consensus that will get enough votes to be approved. On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump destroyed their bipartisan plan, and on Thursday, a House GOP bill that Trump supported but had been trimmed down failed.

In addition to providing over $100 billion in disaster aid and economic relief for farmers in rural towns, the now-dead bipartisan accord would have enabled the federal government to continue operations until March 14. Additionally, the agreement would have given lawmakers their first pay increase since 2009. In accordance with Trump's demands, the GOP package would have also contained disaster aid financing, a two-year suspension of the debt ceiling, and the continuation of government operations until mid-March.

If Congress doesn't come to an agreement by Friday night, Americans may soon have to cope with the following:

A government shutdown is imminent.

To prevent a shutdown, lawmakers have until Friday at the latest to provide funding for the federal government, if only temporarily. All would be impacted because no agency's appropriations have been authorized by Congress.

The latest shutdown, which took place during Trump's first term and lasted from shortly before Christmas in 2018 to the end of January in 2019, follows a different set of plans and processes for each department and agency.

The plans specify how many workers would be placed on furlough, which workers are deemed necessary and would work for free, how long it would take to finalize operations in the hours leading up to a shutdown, and which activities would be suspended. From shutdown to shutdown, those plans may change.

Given that a shutdown would fall during the hectic holiday season, air travel may be significantly impacted. There may be delays, the Transportation Security Administration cautioned.

As TSA Administrator David Pekoske wrote on X on Thursday, the agency anticipates screening 40 million passengers over the holidays, but January 2. “Please be advised that a lengthy closure may result in lengthier airport wait times, even though our staff is ready to manage large numbers of passengers and guarantee safe passage.,” he wrote.

Of the agency's over 62,000 workers, over 59,000 are deemed critical and would continue to work without compensation in the event of a shutdown, he said.

On Thursday, the National Park Service announced that regular visitor services would continue until Sunday in the event of a budget breach. To decide how to operate each park, the agency is currently examining its backup plan.

Nonetheless, some governments may maintain the national parks inside their borders by using their own money. When a shutdown threatened in the fall of 2023, Arizona intended to keep the Grand Canyon open, while Utah announced it would maintain the Mighty 5 parks—Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion—open. Additionally, Colorado promised to maintain the openness of its four national parks and other federal resources.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder stated Thursday that a shutdown would also impact the Defense Department's activities, adding that military personnel would not get paid during the lapse.

"Objectively speaking, a funding lapse is still avoidable and will cause major disruptions across the Defense Department.," Ryder stated.

CNN was directed by other agencies to the White House Office of Management and Budget's contingency plans, several of which go back to the fall of 2023.

Among other effects, previous shutdowns have caused the Smithsonian museums to stop, caused the Internal Revenue Service to suffer shortly as the tax filing season began, and caused certain federal financing to small businesses and homebuyers to be delayed. During the most recent shutdown, numerous air traffic controllers called in sick, causing flights to clog even though they are required to be on the job.

Other financing sources, however, allow some agencies to carry on with specific operations.

Additionally, even in the event of a government shutdown, some crucial federal operations continue. Notably, Medicare and Medicaid benefits would continue, and Social Security recipients would continue to receive their monthly payments.

Since Congress continuously delayed approving a full financing plan until eventually completing one in March, government departments had to regularly prepare for a shutdown over the previous fiscal year.

Federal employees were "rattled."

Every shutdown has a different effect, but the effects may be felt right away. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which examined statistics from September, around 875,000 civilian federal employees would be placed on furlough, while an additional 1.4 million employees are deemed essential and will need to continue working, the most of them without compensation. (Once the standoff is over, they will get their lost wages.)

“Hardworking federal employees and the millions of citizens who depend on vital government services would suffer greatly from a government shutdown, according to Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, an organization that represents over 800,000 civilian federal employees.

"These patriotic civil servants are the backbone of our country— they protect our borders, inspect our food, make sure that people travel safely over the holidays, and help those affected by disasters," Kelley added. Among them are more than 642,000 veterans of our military. It is not acceptable to let them skip work over the holidays.

Doreen Greenwald, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents 150,000 workers across three dozen federal departments and offices, said the abrupt possibility of a shutdown has "rattled" federal employees. However, the action would also have wider repercussions.

According to Greenwald, "Shutdowns jeopardize the paychecks and vital services that hardworking Americans and their families depend on every day, waste taxpayer money, and harm the economy."

Trump's protracted shutdown

During his first administration, Trump oversaw the longest government shutdown in forty years. When Trump accepted a short-term funding package in late January that excluded billions of dollars for a border wall, the 35-day standoff came to an end.

Many Americans and federal employees, however, suffered greatly as a result of the closure, which also made it more difficult for certain families to get student loans, delayed flights, and canceled immigration hearings.

Assistance for farmers and catastrophes

Important additional financing for disaster relief is also under jeopardy.

Nearly $100 billion would have been made available to assist Americans in their efforts to recover from a number of natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 as part of the bipartisan agreement reached earlier this week.

A share of the money was to be distributed to each state in the country. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, offered a summary of the states that were projected to get the most assistance, including North Carolina and Florida, which were severely affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton earlier this year.

The Disaster Relief Fund of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has diminished due to the two hurricanes and other calamities, would be restocked with about $29 billion.

A major bone of contention during discussions earlier this week was the $21 billion in disaster assistance for farmers that was included in the package. Lawmakers from states with an emphasis on agriculture have claimed that the assistance is urgently needed since American farmers are dealing with declining commodity prices and rising supply costs.

The farm bill, a comprehensive package that oversees numerous agricultural and nutrition support programs, would have also been extended as part of the spending agreement. The most recent version of the measure was passed in 2018, and the extension expired at the end of September. Normally, the bill is renewed every five years.