WASHINGTON — The clock continues to tick toward a partial government shutdown on Friday. Congress still has time to take action to stop it, however.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) is expressing optimism that the shutdown may be averted.
"A meeting at the White House yesterday I think showed some promise that what we would do is, we would extend these two deadlines -- March 1 and March 8 -- maybe to March 15th and March 22nd. And that we would continue and finally get a budget done," he said.
Kaine continued: "My hope is, based on the meeting yesterday at the White House and reports of it I've heard from Senator [Chuck] Schumer immediately after it was over, is that it does seem as if we are on a path for a short-term extension of these March deadlines."
If a shutdown happens, one of the immediate impacts would be a stoppage of more than $ 16 billion worth of military construction projects.
The Friday deadline also impacts the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development.