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As more senators fly back into Washington, D.C. to debate on a spending measure passed by the House of Representatives less than 24 hours ago, the clock is ticking towards the partial government shutdown that will begin after midnight tonight. If the upper chamber votes down the short-term spending measure that will extend the federal funding through the beginning of next year, it will trigger a highly-politicized, partisan, Christmas time debacle as Democrats are set to regain the majority in the House in just two weeks.

After days of threats from President Donald Trump of shutdown over the failure of Congress to give him $5 billion in border wall funding, the GOP majority in the House passed a bill containing $5.7 billion for money to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall late Thursday night.

Since there are not 60 votes in the Senate, President Trump was looking for Republican leaders in the Senate to invoke the “nuclear option” on passing the funding measure. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) does not have the votes to change the rules and pass the bill with a simple majority.

According to The Hill, a spokesman for McConnell confirmed that there were not enough in the conference to pass funding for the border wall, or to change the rules to pass it with 51 “yes” votes. “Just this morning,” the spokesman added, “several Senators put out statements confirming their opposition, and confirming that there is not a majority in the conference to go down that road.”

AP reports that Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a fierce Trump opponent, was opposed to the bill, saying he would resist wall money without broader immigration reforms, leaving the procedural dead on arrival.

At a Thursday night bill signing at the White House after the 217-185 House vote, President Trump said the government is “totally prepared for a very long shutdown.” Attempting to place blame on minority Democrats, he added that this may be the “only chance that we’ll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out, to get great border security.”

Only a week ago, Trump insisted during an Oval Office meeting that he would take ownership of a partial government shutdown over the U.S.-Mexico border wall. “I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down,” he reiterated.

One scenario following a “no” vote on the bill is that the Senate may strip the border wall funds out of the package, and send it back to the House to further consideration. However, Reuters adds that the House adjourned just before 7:00 p.m. Friday, ensuring that the bill is now in the Senate’s hands.

The pre-Christmas government shutdown is looking a bit more likely after Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI-1) announced around 1:00 p.m. that President Donald Trump “will not sign” the funding measure to keep the government open over the lack of dedicated funding to the border wall. This afternoon, Trump met with House GOP leaders at the White House to discuss funding measures as money will run out tomorrow at midnight, but said he will refuse to accept a stop-gap measure, which has already passed the Senate.

On Twitter hours ago, President Trump said that when he “begrudgingly signed the [$1.3 trillion] Omnibus Bill” in late March, he “was promised the Wall and Border Security by leadership…It didn’t happen!”

The battle over the border wall was elevated during a raucous meeting in the Oval Office last week with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA-12). President Trump reiterated to the two congressional leaders his request for $5 billion in funding for national security interests, namely the construction of the long-awaited campaign promise of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

After waning on his position to shut down the federal government this week, Trump faced criticism from conservative lawmakers in Washington who warned of the potential backlash from the Republican voting base if he does not deliver on one of his most-touted agenda items.

Currently, some of the only evidence of parts of Trump’s barrier is what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls “120 miles of 30-foot-tall steel bollard fencing ‘in areas most needed by the Border Patrol,” which is reported to “be finished and under construction by the end of the current fiscal year,” according to a press release.

As the Democrats are set to regain the majority in the House in just over two weeks, it will be the last time Trump may have a chance to secure authorization for funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. If not, President Trump must win a second term in the White House and the incoming GOP minority must reclaim the lower chamber of Congress.

Regardless, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has explained that the Trump Administration is looking into other departments to carry out the work and alternative funding options. The $1.6 billion on the table for border security cannot be used for new wall construction, only for border fence improvements.

Since Speaker Ryan relayed to the President that the votes “aren’t there” in the GOP-controlled House, Trump has alluded to having the U.S. military build the wall, which could face significant pushback from the public and Congress.

As space becomes a bigger priority for the White House, President Donald Trump announced earlier this week the creation of “Space Command,” a unified combatant command that will serve as the first step towards the commander-in-chief’s vision of “Space Force,” a potential sixth branch of the military. The move follows other highly ambitious moves to make spaceflight easier, planning infrastructure for a “Space Gateway,” and an idea for a forward operating base on the Moon.

The announcement delivered by Vice President Mike Pence at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was planned to coincide with the launch of a Space X Falcon 9 to deliver U.S. military satellites to orbit. The launch, however, was aborted after the Falcon 9’s onboard computer triggered an abort procedure, according to Space.com.

Nevertheless, commenting on Trump’s directive to the Pentagon, Pence said that “space is, in his words, a ‘war-fighting domain.'” While a Space Command currently exists under the Air Force, establishing it as a unified combatant command will provide a home for each military branch’s space elements. As the 11th combatant command, it will exist alongside the likeness of CENTCOM, SOCOM, and eight other regional and functional forces.

Advances in aerospace technology among nations that are aggressors towards the U.S. likely prodded the creation of what some say is “just another bureaucracy.” Though, some countries have even developed anti-satellite measures and laser-based weaponry that could be used against U.S. assets or on the homeland itself.

“China has tested missiles to destroy satellites. China and Russia are working to stage new weapons directly in space,” Vice President Pence said in Cape Canaveral.

“Under [President Trump’s] leadership, the United States is taking steps to ensure that American national security is as dominant in space as it is here on Earth,” he added. “To that end, it is my privilege to announce that today, President Trump will direct the Department of Defense to establish a combatant command that will oversee all our military activities in space.”

Although Pence is the chairman of the newly-revived National Space Council, he will not led the new combatant command into battle (or continuing a mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before).

A general or flag officer from any of the military services will serve as the commander. In a memo from the President to the Pentagon, Defense Secretary James Mattis will recommend officers to be nominated as the commander and deputy commander of Space Command, whom will be subject to Senate confirmation.

The U.S. Air Force initially opposed the idea of Space Command, arguing that there would be two separate military forces in space. Even though the cost has been pegged at $800 million over the next five years, a report from the The Hill reveals that in September, a widely-leaked Air Force memo put the cost at $13 billion, with proponents of Space Command claiming the numbers were inflated to increase animus against the measure.

Regardless, the Trump Administration looks to cement a space-faring sixth branch of the military by the end of his first term in office. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is already working on an aircraft (spacecraft) with a test flight set for 2021, which has been dubbed the “Phantom Express” – possibly, one could hope, the precursor to something that looks like a T-65 X-wing Starfighter.