India, Jan. 31 -- The U.S. Government is poised to enter a partial government shutdown that will last at least a few days at midnight tonight due to the lapse of a funding deadline. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed that they have begun "the process of preparing for a lapse."

Congress is expected to fail a deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday to fund several major federal agencies. The House still needs to approve the funding plan that the Senate passed late Friday, but that body isn't anticipated back until Monday.

A partial shutdown basically means that funding for several key agencies will lapse tonight, and operations will halt in several departments while others continue to function in a limited capacity.

The inabi...