Shutdown will last at least until Thursday as senators go home

A partial government shutdown will remain in place — and members of Congress will get to go home after all — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Saturday.

The decision came as the Senate remained stalemated over President Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico – and while Vice President Mike Pence was huddling with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in hopes of hammering out a deal.

The Senate will not reconvene until Thursday, McConnell said, guaranteeing a six-day shutdown for about a quarter of federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the National Parks Department.

With most federal offices already closed for a four-day weekend extending through Christmas Day, the partial shutdown will have few noticeable effects until Wednesday, when government employees had been slated to return to work.

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