Because of the long Christmas holiday, Wednesday marked the first business day since the federal government shutdown.

Many Long Islanders likely won't notice much of a difference, at least not yet -- post offices and federal courthouses are still running, and Social Security checks are still being delivered.

But the shutdown is affecting anyone who's considered an essential federal employee. Those include Secret Service agents and officers, federal corrections officers, federal court officers and airport workers. They're still required to show up for work but won't be paid until the shutdown is over.

Rep. Peter King says he does support building the border wall at the center of the shutdown debacle, but he says he does not support a government shutdown -- ever. He says he's encouraging President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders to reach some sort of compromise to restart the federal government.

On Wednesday, Trump was asked but declined to tell reporters what amount of wall funding he would accept to end the shutdown.

The U.S. Senate will be in session on Thursday, although no vote is expected unless a deal is reached beforehand.