Tensions in Congress are rising as the deadline for a government shutdown closes in.

Five days remain, and Congress still needs to come to a decision on whether to leave their doors open for business on Oct. 1.

The Senate is not leaving the House much time to vote on their revised continuing resolution bill, which would still fund the Affordable Care Act as well as the federal government.

Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said the Senate needs to get the bill moving and sent off to the House.

“We’ll vote on the cloture petition on that substitute Saturday morning,” Harkin said. “Then there is 30 hours of debate after that, so sometime on Sunday we would vote on the final passage and then send it back to the House.”

This situation would only occur if all time is used up in the Senate. Harkin said he hopes to get the bill to the House much sooner than Sunday.

Congress has become a figurative battlefield when it comes to Obamacare. It is a fight that is taking them to the final seconds before making a major decision: either shut down the federal government, or keep it running.

“I voted against Obamacare, and I voted once to repeal it,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “I’ve always said we need to do everything we can to keep it from going into effect,. 

Harkin said he, along with the Senate, would be more than willing to negotiate the terms of Obamacare. However, he is not a supporter of defunding the act completely.

“We’ve always been willing to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act. That’s why we have committees set up,” Harkin said. “If they want to make changes in the Affordable Care Act, then that’s the proper place to do it. They have the proper committees in the House to do that also if they have changes they want to make.”

In the event of a government shutdown, which is pegged to occur next week, Grassley said many services and programs would still continue to operate.

“Essential services, and I can’t define those essential services, continue to function as do mandatory spending programs,” Grassley said.

However, Harkin disagreed. The Social Security office, he said, will be shut down or staffing will be reduced. The clinical center of the National Institutes of Health also will be affected by the shutdown.

Grassley said he is still hopeful Congress can avoid a government shutdown.

“I do feel confident, but I think that is something that you are going to have to ask a congressman,” Grassley said. “Because it looks like the way this is playing out, it’s going to go back to the House of Representatives agreeing or disagreeing to a Senate amendment. It depends on what the House of Representatives is going to do.”