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Vote on a Security Council resolution on Yemen, December 21, at the UN headquarters in New York. The vote for the continuation of the truce could be delayed because of the "shutdown". REUTERS / Carlo Allegri

The United States may know Friday night the "shutdown" or paralysis of federal institutions, the longest in American history. The last one lasted 21 days under the Clinton administration, it was in 1995. Donald Trump said he was canceling a trip to the Davos Forum, which is yet in 11 days, because of the "shutdown". 800,000 civil servants are currently forced to rest, with direct consequences, notably at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

With our correspondent in New York, Marie Bourreau

The headquarters of the United States Mission at the United Nations remains open, but the experts working there have no right to reply to e-mails. Some are even asked to stay at home. The mission's Twitter account has been silent since December 22, when the shutdown began.

" The Americans are the absent subscribers ," summarizes a diplomatic source who ensures that the phone rings in the vacuum for three weeks.

No question of leaving the chair empty in the Security Council. The US Deputy Ambassador is present but with a small team around him.

The consequences could nevertheless begin to be felt very quickly. New UN ambassador Heather Nauert , a former Fox News reporter, was yet to be confirmed by the Senate. His arrival in New York is currently postponed indefinitely .

More serious, the first diplomatic negotiations must take place next week. The Security Council must approve the dispatch of a cease-fire observation mission to Yemen . Here again, this critical vote for the survival of the truce could be delayed for want of a Washington directive.

► (Re) read: United States: a "shutdown" that starts to weigh very heavy