A partisan deadlock is likely to shut down the federal government starting Wednesday, as Congress failed to agree on a plan to fund services, benefits and worker paychecks before the fiscal year-end deadline.

It’s unclear, with the House of Representatives adjourned until next week, when lawmakers could consider their next moves to reopen the government.

The final decision came down to a vote in the Senate on the same Republican bill that failed more than a week ago.

The bill would have kept the government open for seven more weeks. But Democrats, seeking health care concessions and other guardrails on the president’s spending authority, withheld support. They proposed their own bill, which also did not pass.

GOP leaders said Democrats were “hostage taking” by demanding limits on the president’s spending authority and restoration of health care cuts in Trump’s tax bill this summer. Democrats said Republicans “weren’t serious” about keeping government open and had failed to involve them in negotiations.

The Trump administration has threatened more mass firings unless Democrats voted for the Republican plan.

Maryland’s members of Congress joined the partisan fray and backed their party’s message of fighting for health care affordability, while state officials in Annapolis discussed what happens when residents who work for the federal government stop getting paid and federal funds stop flowing to key state programs.

Hundreds of thousands of Marylanders rely on federal income, either as civilian workers or because they’re employed by government contractors. Many could face a pause in their paycheck for the length of a shutdown.

Democrats in Congress said they believe the American people are on their side and have heard from current and former federal workers who want them to fight.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen called the administration’s threats to fire more federal workers “mafia-style blackmail” and reminded a gathering of former federal workers Tuesday that “a shutdown gives them [the administration] no more power to fire people than they have today.” Democrats proposed a plan that shows what their party is for, Van Hollen said.

“We want to keep the government open, but we also want to stop the president from doing what he’s done since day one,” he said.

This would be the first shutdown of President Donald Trump’s second term. The country’s longest shutdown, a partial government closure, occurred in 2018 and 2019 during his first term and lasted 35 days.

Back then, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks was the Prince George’s County executive and she recalled the turmoil it caused her residents. The Democrat said she woke up “sad” that her constituents would again face a shutdown under a Trump administration.

“This is not a game,” she said, expressing frustration with her Republican colleagues who hold the majority in both chambers and the White House. “These are people’s lives.”

She said she and her staff have heard from constituents who support Democrats’ positions and said she’s already started having conversations with state officials on how they can help federal workers who may lose paychecks and services.

Over in the House, Reps. Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Sarah Elfreth said they and their teams spent much of their time manning phones and answering emails from concerned constituents. They’ve also been gathering resources for those who will be immediately affected.

It’s one of the few things House Democrats can do at this point since House Speaker Mike Johnson sent fellow Republicans home until next week, Olszewski said.

He said it’s wrong for Republicans to use federal workers as “political pawns.”

“You’re threatening to fire people who have done nothing but give their life and service to a country that they love,” he said.

On a video conference call, top state officials and lawmakers met to discuss contingencies for a shutdown. State officials said most federal workers will be furloughed during the shutdown but some essential workers — such as TSA agents and law enforcement — will be required to work without pay.

Federal contractors also are affected, with an estimated 210,000 in Maryland.

Nearly 162,000 federal civilian jobs are located in Maryland and an estimated 269,000 Marylanders are in the federal workforce, with many commuting to jobs in Virginia or the District of Columbia, according to state data. Maryland has also lost more than 15,000 federal jobs since the start of the Trump administration.

“We know that Maryland is more exposed than any other state in the entire country to the uncertainty that is coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said during the meeting.

Another concern: Funding for federal aid programs such as cash assistance and key nutrition programs for low-earning families.

In past shutdowns, states have used their own money to keep the benefits going with an expectation that the federal government would pay them back. There’s no assurance this time that states will be paid back, Matt Verghese, Gov. Wes Moore’s federal liaison, told lawmakers.

During prior near-shutdowns, state officials were prepared to spend up to $1 billion in state funds to essentially float those programs for at least a few weeks.

Moore administration officials said they’re prepared for this shutdown, just as they were for the last few shutdowns that were averted.

State Labor Secretary Portia Wu said her department has improved its website and customer service, and stands ready to help with unemployment claims and loan requests.