The funding deadlock in the Senate remains unresolved, with the partial shutdown of the U.S. government becoming more likely.

The U.S. government is heading towards a partial government shutdown that may begin this Saturday due to Congress's failure to timely pass a federal funding bill. According to multiple media reports, as of January 29th, the scheduled funding vote in the Senate was stalled due to opposition from lawmakers, resulting in a deadlock on the government funding issue. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer had reached a preliminary agreement on a short-term compromise to avoid a shutdown, planning to separate the funding for the Department of Homeland Security from six funding bills and temporarily extend its funding for two weeks, while allowing the remaining five funding bills to continue until the end of the fiscal year (September 30th). However, the agreement faced resistance during the advancement, particularly from South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who strongly opposed the deal, calling it a "bad trade" and obstructing the voting process. As the House of Representatives has not been called back into session this week, even if the Senate completes the vote, the House will not be able to timely review and pass it, making a short-term partial government shutdown almost inevitable. Given the current situation, if Congress fails to reach an agreement before the deadline, some federal agencies will temporarily cease operations starting from 12:01 am (Saturday at noon Beijing time). One of the main triggers of this funding conflict is the budget and enforcement reform issues related to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency under the Department of Homeland Security. Lawmakers believe that recent ICE enforcement actions have sparked controversy, making enforcement reform provisions a negotiation focus in the budget bill. Democrats hope to include reform measures in the bill, such as requiring law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and clarifying enforcement guidelines, while some Republican lawmakers oppose including such provisions in the funding bill. On the White House side, President Donald Trump has called on both parties to support reaching an agreement to ensure the continued operation of major federal government agencies until the end of the fiscal year and to avoid the impact of a shutdown on society and the market. Economic observers point out that a partial government shutdown may affect non-core government services and the pace of federal employee wage payments, and may also lead to short-term volatility in the financial markets. However, as most government budgets have already been approved and the shutdown is expected to be short-term in nature, its long-term impact on the overall economy may be limited.