Democrat and Republican leaders continue to hold talks on breaking a U.S. budget deadlock and avoiding a government shutdown. Without an agreement on spending for the next six months, money to operate the government runs out at midnight tonight. The two sides are reportedly just $5 billion apart, but still remain without a deal. Jeff Zients of the White House Office of Management and Budget said a federal shutdown would impact a range of government services.

Jeff Zients: “If there is a shutdown, it would have very real effects on the services that American people rely on… National parks, national forests and the Smithsonian Institution would all be closed. The NIH clinical center will not take new patients, and no new clinical trials will start. Those filing paper tax returns would not receive tax refunds from the IRS.”

At the White House, President Obama said the talks have made progress, but gaps remain.

President Obama: “We made some additional progress this evening. I think the staffs of both the House and the Senate, as well as the White House staff, have been working very hard to try to narrow the differences. We made some progress today. Those differences have been narrowed. And so, once again, the staff is going to be working tonight, around the clock, in order to see if we can finally close a deal. But there are still a few issues that are outstanding. They’re difficult issues. They’re important to both sides. And so, I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism. But I think we are further along today than we were yesterday.”