the president will determine where republicans end up in the end. republicans are very comfortable with the position they're in right now. they have a house passed bill. that's what republican leaders in the house and senate believe should be their position from now and going forward. but if the president moves off that, republican leaders are likely to follow. >> quick question before i go back to jeff zeleny about where the white house is on this, and specifically the president. so at midnight, is it automatic that the government shuts down if they haven't reached some agreement, or is it still in play until they decide something and they close this vote? >> yeah, so technically, yes. but i think obviously there's nuance to that, right? first and foremost, it's a weekend. so i actually think that's giving some lawmakers a little bit of space because the biggest issues are the 850,000-plus federal workers that would be furloughed immediately. well, they now have a couple days until that would actually happen. some of the institutions or entities that this would be involved with, they would be closed on the weekend, so they don't have to worry about that