WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House is expected to ask federal agencies to prepare for a possible U.S. government shutdown as health authorities struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and Democrats and Republicans fight over a funding agreement, government officials said on Thursday.

Just days remain for the U.S. Senate to vote on a bill that would suspend the $28.4 Trillion debt ceiling and allow federal agencies to continue operating until Sept. 30, which is the end of fiscal year.

Abdullah Hasan (White House Office of Management and Budget) stated in an OMB spokesperson that Congress would act in a bipartisan manner to provide funding for government “especially as it continues to face the pandemic and support economic recovery.”

He stated that the OMB is “preparing for every contingency” and agencies are actively reviewing decisions about programs. This was consistent with long-standing practice.

The OMB should ask agencies for updates and reviews of their shutdown plans one week before funding ends.

The Washington Post reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease specialist, warned of the dangers of a pandemic and called for government shutdown.

“The worst time in the world we want to shut down the government is in the middle of a pandemic where we have 140,000 people a day getting infected and 2,000 people a day dying,” the Post quoted Fauci as saying in an interview.