By Natalie Andrews and Kristina Peterson 

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers prepared to vote Friday on a weeklong spending bill needed to avoid a shutdown of the U.S. government on Saturday, but Democratic resistance added uncertainty and volatility to the day.

In a related development, Republicans signaled late Thursday that they were still short of the votes needed to revive and pass legislation to replace most of the Affordable Care Act.

House GOP leaders had been trying to corral votes in hopes of passing the bill before President Donald Trump's 100th day in office on Saturday. But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said Thursday night that the chamber wouldn't vote on the bill Friday or Saturday.

The developments showed the difficulty GOP leaders have faced in trying to come to terms with Democrats on a spending bill to keep the government open after Friday while also pressing forward on a health-care bill uniformly opposed by Democrats.

Write to Natalie Andrews at Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com and Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 27, 2017 23:22 ET (03:22 GMT)