The US government will begin a Christmastime shutdown at midnight, as Congress adjourned Friday without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall. Operations for several key agencies will cease at 12:01 am Saturday, despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties. Trump has dug in on his demand for USD 5 billion for construction of a wall on the US border with Mexico. Democrats are staunchly opposed, and the absence of an elusive deal means federal funds for dozens of agencies will lapse when the clock strikes twelve.

It remained unclear how long the shutdown will last. But the optics are bad, as 800,000 federal employees will be either furloughed or forced to work without pay in the run up to the Christmas holiday. But the prospect of a large portion of government workers getting lumps of coal instead of paychecks was not enough to spur lawmakers or the president to action. The House of Representatives adjourned just before 7:00 pm (2300) Friday, with no moves taken to avert a shutdown, and the Senate closed up shop an hour later. Both are due back in session at noon Saturday.