You can still check NORAD's Santa tracker during a government shutdown

If there's one bright spot in the face of a government shutdown, it's this.

President Trump is still refusing anything less than $5 billion for his border wall, and senators are still debating whether to give it to him. If some spending bill isn't passed by the end of the day Friday, the government will shut down, furloughing thousands of government employees without pay as Christmas approaches.

It's unclear what federal services will be shuttered as a few hundred congresspeople and one executive figure things out. But one thing that's already been determined essential is NORAD's Santa tracker. The joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace command has tracked and broadcast Santa's worldwide location for 63 years, and this year will be no different, a spokesperson affirmed to CBS's Mark Knoller.

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In a follow-up tweet, NORAD shared that volunteers make NORAD's Santa cam, social media, and phone line possible. Kathryn Krawczyk