If the government has a weekend shutdown, much of the nation might not notice.

But if a shutdown carries over through Monday, millions of Americans are likely to feel it — a fact that will roil the blame game Republicans and Democrats are playing in advance of a possible closure.

Most public-facing government functions are closed for the weekend, lowering the odds that a weekend shutdown will interfere will people’s lives.

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The Trump administration is also taking pains, it says, to make the shutdown more livable.

Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyMick Mulvaney to start hedge fund Fauci says positive White House task force reports don't always match what he hears on the ground Bottom line MORE on Friday accused former President Obama of weaponizing the 2013 government shutdown, and said the new administration would go in a different direction.

“We want folks to understand that it will look very different than it did under the Obama administration,” Mulvaney said.

He said post offices and the Transportation Security Agency, for example, would remain open.

Nonetheless, if a shutdown carries into Monday, people are likely to notice.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees deemed “nonessential” either wouldn’t be allowed to report to work on Monday, or would show up briefly to prepare their offices for the furlough.

Many grants and permits requiring federal action would stall.

Some services like passport processing and certain national park functions could start to wind down, or might be able to stay operational for a few days.

Some agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission, have funding that could keep them open for a few days or through the week. Then they would have to shut down.

Federal courts, for example, only have enough money to remain open through Feb. 9, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

The Food and Drug Administration would be unable to continue its food safety inspections. The department plan said routine inspections, enforcement and the monitoring of food and drug imports would come to a standstill.

Each agency has its own contingency plan for a shutdown, though there were signs Friday that the Trump administration might not be fully prepared.

A source at the Health and Human Services Department on Friday said his department is the least prepared he’s seen before a shutdown. Employees were to be told whether they needed to come to work next week on Monday — not over the weekend.

Experts say the impact of a shutdown is likely to be more readily felt at the local level given that a large part of the of the federal workforce is made up of people who work for companies that contract with the government.

“Here’s the reality, the federal workforce and its contractors are not limited to the D.C. metro area,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. “If they don’t know if they will be paid, we will see an impact on local economies. People will start husbanding their resources.”

Just how many federal contractors there are is unclear.

The Congressional Budget Office said in 2015 that it was unaware of any comprehensive information about the size of the federal government’s contracted workforce, but Paul Light, a New York University professor and senior fellow at the Volcker Alliance, estimated in a 2015 report that the figure is close to 40 percent, or 3.7 million people.

Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council, said not all federally contracted employees will be impacted. Those contracted employees whose projects depend on future funding, however, can expect to receive a stop work order come Monday.

Professional Services Council is a trade group that represents government contractors in the technology and professional service industries.

“It's going to be chaotic for certain. ... The general rule we’ve been telling contractors is to continue to work until you’re told to stop by the government,” Chvotkin said. “I’m anticipating if the shutdown continues into Monday lots of companies will be given stop work orders.”

Federally contracted employees who are told to cease work are furloughed, but Chvotkin said they are only paid if their companies can keep funding the payroll.

Even Mulvaney, as he said that life would go on, indicated there would be sacrifices because of a shutdown.

“The military will still go to work, they will not get paid. The border will still be patrolled, they will not get paid. Folks will still be fighting the fires out West, they will not get paid,” he said. “The parks are opened, especially if the services are provided by third parties. But things like the trash won’t get picked up.”

Bob Cusack contributed.