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Partial government shutdown in effect after lawmakers fail to reach deal

WASHINGTON — UPDATE Saturday, Dec. 22, 12:00 a.m.: A partial government shutdown is in effect. It's the second government shutdown this year.

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The House and the Senate both adjourned Friday night without any deal in place to keep the federal government open, meaning a partial shutdown will begin at midnight.

President Donald Trump has vowed to veto any bill that doesn’t fund a border wall, and congressional Democrats are refusing to pay for it.

Leaders for the House and Senate said they will reconvene Saturday at noon.

[READ: Government shutdown: What will close; will you get your Social Security check, SNAP, WIC?]

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are now facing uncertainty about when their next paycheck is coming as they head into the Christmas holiday.

“We're totally prepared for a very long shutdown,” Trump said on Friday.

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A shutdown will affect more than 800,000 federal workers. At agencies such as NASA, some 95 percent of employees would be furloughed.

Transportation Security Administration agents could end up working without pay over the busy holiday weekend.

[READ: Partial government shutdown could impact holiday plans nationwide]

Along the southern border, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents will also stay on the job, but they also won't be getting their paychecks.

“These workers, some may be furloughed, and most will not work for pay during this. It’s just a mess,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Here in the metro, Kennesaw Mountain, which is part of the National Parks Service, will shut down, too. So will the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in northeast Atlanta.

Channel 2's Richard Elliot contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said it got most of its funding from other sources beside the current bill. It said it should be OK, but it does have contingency staffing plans for the shutdown.

[READ: White House digs in on border wall demand, risking shutdown]

Meanwhile, lawmakers tied more than $1 billion in federal aid to south Georgia residents trying to recover from Hurricane Michael’s devastating effects -- particularly the agriculture industry.

Elliot tracked down Gov. Nathan Deal on Friday as he reviewed Georgia National Guard troops at Fort Stewart outside of Savannah.

Deal said he’s thankful he called a special legislative session last month to approve $450 million in stopgap aid, because south Georgia may have to wait for federal help.

“We’ve done what we can do at the state level, but it is important for the federal agency to come through with relief as well. And I feel confident they will,” Deal said.

[READ: Shutdown talk recedes after White House eases wall threat]

Trump is now placing the blame for a shutdown on Democrats, who are refusing to fund the border wall.

“It's really the Democrats' shutdown, 'cause we've done our thing,” Trump said.

Last week in the Oval Office, Trump said he was willing to shut down the government if he didn’t get funding for the border wall.

“I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it,” Trump told likely incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a heated meeting.

Channel 2 Washington Bureau reporter Justin Gray asked White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley about the change.

[READ: Still no deal to avert partial government shutdown, Senate leaders say]

“What he was saying was he owns the constitutional obligation to protect the American people,” Hogan said.

“That's not what he said though, right?” Gray asked Hogan.

“And during the exchange, he maintained the point: Who owns it is irrelevant. ‘I'll own it. I've got broad shoulders,’” Hogan said.

Congressional Democrats are not backing down.

[READ: Trump chaos extends to Capitol as shutdown, Christmas near]

“You’re not getting the wall today, next week or on Jan. 3 when Democrats take control of the House,” Schumer said Friday.

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson is one of the senators not in Washington on Friday. His office told Gray that Isakson had a minor medical procedure Thursday and is “awaiting guidance from leadership on next steps.”

About 75 percent of the federal government would not be affected by a shutdown.

Those agencies, including the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, are already funded for the full fiscal year.

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