WASHINGTON, Dhu-AlHijjah 22, 1437, Sep 23, 2016, SPA -- The White House budget office scheduled a call with U.S government agencies on Friday to plan for a government shutdown in case the U.S. Congress fails to pass a short-term funding bill by a deadline next week, Reuters reported. "It is our hope that this work will ultimately be unnecessary and that there will be no lapse in appropriations," a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in a statement. The federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and Congress must pass a spending measure by then to keep the government open. In recent years, lawmakers have seldom agreed on a full federal budget and instead have relied on stop-gap measures. On Thursday, Republicans produced a bill which Democrats immediately rejected. The Senate is expected to hold an initial procedural vote on the legislation on Tuesday, according to a senior Republican aide. The White House was pleased that bill includes funding to fight the Zika virus, but has concerns about other provisions, spokesman Josh Earnest said, noting that it was "too soon to panic" about the bill. -- SPA 23:40 LOCAL TIME 20:40 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w