WASHINGTON — A government that has repeatedly shut itself down for weeks at a time, unable to agree with itself on a budget, has offered to assume control of the Strait of Hormuz, the corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply passes, and to begin collecting tolls.

The President, speaking on television, said the country "may take over the strait" if no deal were reached, and would in that event "collect tolls" and keep twenty percent of the oil moving through it. The offer came as the strait sat closed and shipping had halted, and as the same government's talks to resolve the standoff continued in Switzerland. It was extended by a state that, in recent years, has suspended its own operations over internal disagreement on more than one occasion, including for a record thirty-five days.

Officials presented the offer as consistent with a broader portfolio of ambitions, the President having previously proposed acquiring a national territory, a canal, and a foreign coastal enclave. The strait, they noted, would be administered to a standard no domestic agency had yet been asked to meet. A spokesperson confirmed that the talks in Switzerland had collapsed shortly after the proposal was aired.

The toll revenue, the spokesperson added, would be substantial, and could in principle be directed toward funding the government now offering to collect it, should that government happen to be open at the time.