LOUISVILLE-- The country is five days away from another possible partial government shutdown.

By the end of the week, about 6,500 Kentuckians could be working without pay,  and thousands more could be impacted because of services not available.

Congressman John Yarmuth and Majority Whip, Representative Jim Clyburn from South Carolina toured the Veteran Administration Medical Center in Louisville, and while there the two spoke on how negotiations to fund the government are proceeding. 

Yarmuth says he is optimistic about how negotiations are going. The Democrat from Louisville explained, "In any negotiating there's a lot of posturing and every side is trying to get the most that they can in terms of their priorities, but I think in this case, both sides, being the Democrats and Republicans, and the third and most important side, the president, want to avoid another government shutdown."

President Trump is so far holding steadfast in his request of funding for a wall on the southern border.

Democrats have long said they won't give in on that...but with another shutdown looming...they are now putting at least some of the requested $5.7 billion on the table. 

Yarmuth has personally said he does not support funding for a border wall. When asked why he is now willing to negotiate on that, he said, "We're negotiating. You start from the position that you would like to see happen, and that's what compromise is about. You end up giving something. The question now is, if Democrats give whatever the amount is for border barriers, what is the president and what are republicans able to give in return. And that's where the obstacle appears to be right now."

Democrats have proposed cutting the current number of beds that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, uses to detain immigrants here illegally from 40,520 to 35,520. Within that, Democrats want to limit the number of beds for people without documentation caught within the United States to 16,500.

The number of people caught entering the country through Mexico is down from December, but it's up by more than 22,000 when comparing January 2018 to January 2019.

Clyburn says a border wall won't impact those numbers, saying "We have always been very strong for reenforcing, renovating, retrofitting, putting in infrastructure that's needed at the ports of entry, and these crossings are happening at the ports of entry."

With just days left to make a deal, and the paychecks of thousands of Kentuckians on the line, will they come to an agreement in time?

Yarmuth hopes yes, saying "These financial, budgetary negotiations almost always go to the last minute.​​"

As that minute grows closer, people continue to watch and wait.