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Here's what would happen if Trump's border wall demands force a government shutdown

Bob Bryan   

Here's what would happen if Trump's border wall demands force a government shutdown

government shutdown capitol

  • President Donald Trump's demands for US-Mexico border wall funding have pushed the US federal government to the brink of a government shutdown at midnight.
  • If the shutdown does occur, significant portions of the federal government would close temporarily.
  • About 800,000 federal employees would be affected, with 420,000 essential employees forced to work without pay and 380,000 employees placed on furlough.

After more than a year of threats, President Donald Trump appears ready to stand firm and force a government shutdown to try to secure funding for his long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border.

Congress is facing a midnight deadline Friday to pass a funding bill and avoid a partial federal government shutdown, leaving little time for lawmakers to resolve differences over Trump's demands for $5 billion toward a border wall.

Initially, the plan was to pass a short-term continuing resolution, or CR, that simply funded the government at current levels through February 8. While that bill passed the Senate on Wednesday, Trump rejected it after pushback from conservative pundits and members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus.

Read more: Trump urges Mitch McConnell to use 'nuclear option' to pass border-wall funding in morning tirade about likely government shutdown»

That leaves Congress little time to find a plan to move forward and get a bill passed before the deadline.

So what would happen if there is no funding bill by Friday night? And who exactly is affected?

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