With the looming deadline of Friday April 8th quickly approaching, Congress needs to pass a federal budget this week or else the government will have to shut down because of a lack of funding. Negotiations are ongoing between the White House, Senate Democrats and House Republicans and a senior member on the House Budget Committee commented to us late last week that his best guess is that there is a 50-50 chance that no agreement will be made and that the government will have to shut down. Additionally, senior congressional aides on the Senate side have also shared with us that they think the government might have to shut down for at least a few days, to give Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) a “victory” for the Tea Party elements in his conference.