Furloughed workers urged to apply for insurance

It was still difficult to gauge on Saturday how many of the 16,795 federal employees in the state will be affected by the partial government shutdown, said Chris Kelly, communications director for Minnesota Management and Budget.

The state is prepared for a short-term shutdown, he said, including until the next possible Senate session Thursday. He encouraged furloughed workers to apply for insurance benefits through the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Program. Information is available online at bit.ly/2V6bmUM.

Sen. Tina Smith took to Twitter after the Senate adjourned Saturday afternoon, encouraging President Donald Trump to work with Congress to avoid a lengthier shutdown.

"Americans will be denied some vital government services and thousands of federal employees will go into the holidays without the certainty of a paycheck," she wrote. "The president must come to the table so we can pass legislation to re-open the government as soon as possible."

"Even [a] partial shutdown shouldn't have happened," Sen. Amy Klobuchar tweeted earlier in the day. "Now negotiations must continue."

Miguel Otárola