With a partial government shutdown looming, President Biden is warning of Armageddon, but by exempting Ukraine from any interruption in funding while ensuring that the fallout hits Americans hard, he’s showing his goal is to lay blame on the Republican House rather than to keep Washington humming.

Operation Atlantic Resolve — America’s effort to support Ukraine’s resistance against Russia — will roll on, the Defense Department says, regardless of whether Congress is able to reach a deal by Saturday’s deadline.

The funding for operations in Ukraine “is an excepted activity under a government lapse,” a Defense spokesman says, through what is called, in Pentagon-speak, a Contingency Plan for Continuation of Essential Operations in the Absence of Available Appropriations.

While no such Plan B exists for thousands of other federal workers, Defense will pay 166,509 civilian employees whose “compensation is financed by a resource other than annual appropriations,” meaning money the government already has on hand.

An additional 198,977 Defense employees deemed “necessary to protect life and property” will still draw checks, too. That brings the total workforce that won’t be impacted to more than 365,000 persons, meaning more than the population of Cleveland, in a single agency≈.

Twelve hours after Mr. Biden gives the word, the backup strategy will be implemented, demonstrating that the partial shutdown impacts only “non-essential discretionary functions” and that a president has wide latitude in deciding where to spend resources flowing into the Treasury — though the Constitution says that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by Law

Defense is an essential function that Americans expect regardless of any political impasse, but support of Ukraine goes far beyond military equipment, extending to the kind of domestic spending that Mr. Biden won’t be prioritizing should House Republicans fail to reach a deal.

“America has provided more than $70 billion in aid” to Ukraine, CBS News reported on Sunday, “with billions going not just toward the military, but also to help farmers, subsidize small businesses, and pay the country’s first responders” which number 57,000.

Ukrainians will go right on charging sacks of seed and fertilizer to America’s tab during a shutdown. Divers who draw salaries from America will still be clearing rivers of bombs to, CBS wrote, “make them safe again for swimming and fishing,” recreational activities that Americans will be denied as much is made of shuttering their national parks.

Government shutdowns once passed without much notice, as demonstrated by the eight during President Reagan’s two terms and the seven since 1990. Now, they’re familiar political theater, and Americans have seen that a president can prioritize functions he favors and defund those that cast his opponents as villains.

In 2013, the Obama-Biden Administration erected barricades around the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C., and deployed orange cones to block the entrance and some viewing areas at Mount Rushmore. Since both are outdoor venues, Republicans had success in casting the moves as spiteful.

During the 2018 shutdown, President Trump kept accessible outdoor monuments including Rushmore. Although there were still no services provided by the National Park Service and restrooms were locked, some portable toilets were provided.

This strategy helped earn Mr. Trump a victory in what he branded the “Schumer Shutdown,” denying the Democratic Senate leader headlines about ruined family vacations. There were still stories about federal employees missing paychecks, but Americans have seen that those are always delivered after the impasse is resolved.

Republican House members are previewing their counterattacks on X. “The Biden administration thinks funding the protection of Ukraine’s border is more ‘essential’ than our own,” a congressman from Wisconsin, Thomas Tiffany, tweeted on Friday.

“I don’t know who the Biden regime is working for,” wrote Congressman Michael Cloud of Texas, “but it’s quite obviously not for the American people.” A congressman from Florida, William “Greg” Steube, said, “They don’t even hide it anymore — Biden’s DOD puts America Last.”

Mr. Biden has made Ukraine a centerpiece of his foreign policy and won’t abide any interruption in its funding. If a shutdown occurs, he’ll blame Republicans, but Americans are already hearing a counter message that may prove effective: The president feels the pain of Ukraine more than that of the people he leads.