The words "government shutdown" carry a very ominous connotation with them. The truth of the matter is that most Americans will barely notice any difference in their daily life during the shutdown as long as it is kept relatively brief. Federal employees will be the affected the most by the shutdown as roughly 800,000 will be furloughed while over a million will be asked to keep working without a paycheck.
In order to give a clearer understanding of what will change under a government shutdown here is a list of all of the services that will be affected as well as those that will be operating normally during the shutdown.
Air Travel/International Travel
All of the federal employees involved in running airports - air traffic controllers, TSA screeners, and FAA inspectors - will remain on the job. Passports and visas will still be processed normally and all foreign embassies and consulates will remain running like normal.
Benefits
Social Security, Medicare and unemployment benefits will still be paid as per usual. Due to some of the "non-essential" staff being furloughed it may take a little bit longer to process new disability applications, according to ABC News.
The U.S. Postal Service will not be affected by the shutdown.
Parks
All national parks are closed during the government shutdown. Everything from Alcatraz in the west to the Statue of Liberty in the east will be shut down. People who were camping in a national park will have 48 hours to find alternate accommodations.
Federal Courts
Courts will be operating normally for the first 10 days of a shutdown, after that long the money will run out and employees will start to be furloughed. Cases will continue to be heard, according to ABC News.
Head Start
A few Head Start programs that were scheduled to have their grants renewed on Oct. 1 will be left without funds and closed. The longer the shutdown goes more Head Start programs will become affected by the loss of funds, according to ABC News.
Guns
New gun permits will not be issued during the shutdown, according to USA Today.
Work Safety
Safety inspectors will not be working during the shutdown unless there is an immediate danger present.
Food Stamps
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not be losing any of its funding in the shutdown and shall therefore be running as normal, according to USA Today.
Washington D.C.
One odd quirk about the city is that it does not have control over its budget; it relies on the federal government to pass spending bills to keep things running. City employees within the district are expected to continue working as Mayor Vincent Gray as tapped a $144 million contingency fund to pay them once government funds run out. If the shutdown drags on it is unclear what the city will do once the contingency fund has been emptied, according to the Guardian.
