Government shutdown live updates: Biden signs bill that averts government shutdown

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if Americans should be prepared for the government to shut down.

"I think there's still time. We believe there's still time for that to not happen, for Republicans to do the right thing, to hold up their part of the deal and move forward with the bipartisan agreement," she said. "There's still time and our focus is keeping the government open. That's what we want to see. And we hope Republicans want to do that."

Asked if President Joe Biden would remain in Washington should a shutdown occur, Jean-Pierre rejected getting into hypotheticals.

"We believe, as I just said moments ago, there's still time to get to a bypass, to get to a deal here or move forward," she said.

Jean-Pierre noted, though, that agencies began notifying employees at noon on Friday of their potential furlough in preparation for a possible shutdown.

President Joe Biden, who has yet to publicly weigh in on the funding battle, has been in touch with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.

Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily briefing that Biden has been getting regular updates about what's unfolding on Capitol Hill.

When pressed on why Biden hasn't spoken out himself, Jean-Pierre said Republicans bear the responsibility to fix this issue.

"Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here, and they are the ones who have created this mess," she said. "That's the reality. That's the fact."

"This is not the first time we've been here, and the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works," she continued. "He's been around for some time. He understand what strategy works here to get this done."

House Republicans met behind closed doors at 12:30 p.m. ET to discuss a new plan to avert a government shutdown -- as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says the "lines of communication have been reopened" with Speaker Mike Johnson.

According to sources, Johnson planned to propose the House take several individual votes on pieces of the slimmed-down agreement that failed on the floor Thursday night, including a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14, $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers and $100 billion in disaster relief.

Those are the core pillars of the bipartisan proposal that was tanked by Trump and Musk. It's unclear whether Republicans will make another attempt to take up the debt limit -- Trump's key demand -- in this latest round of votes.

The Tesla billionaire and X owner is weighing in again as lawmakers search for an eleventh-hour solution.

"Either the government should pass sensible bills that actually serve the people or shut it down!" Musk wrote on X.

His post came shortly after Trump also urged the shutdown to "begin now" under the Biden administration rather than during his presidency if lawmakers were unable to come to an agreement.

The funding fight has been a forum for Musk to exert his political influence. Musk has become a key member of President-elect Donald Trump's inner circle, and played a role in torpedoing an original government spending plan that had bipartisan support.