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Federal Services Impacted By Partial Government Shutdown

So what is happening with government services during the shutdown?

AIR TRAVEL
Federal air traffic controllers will remain on the job and airport screeners would keep funneling passengers through security checkpoints. Federal inspectors will continue enforcing safety rules.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
The State Department will continue processing foreign applications for visas and U.S. applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas will continue to provide services to American citizens.

BENEFIT PAYMENTS
Social Security and Medicare benefits will keep coming, but there could be delays in processing new disability applications. Unemployment benefits will still go out.

FEDERAL COURTS
Federal courts will continue operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary would have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases would continue to be heard.

MAIL
Deliveries will continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

RECREATION
All national parks will be closed, as would the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo in Washington. Visitors using overnight campgrounds or other park facilities will be given 48 hours to make alternate arrangements and leave the park. Among the visitor centers that will be closed: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Alcatraz Island near San Francisco and the Washington Monument.

HEALTH
New patients will not be accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, but current patients would continue to receive care. Medical research at the NIH will be disrupted and some studies will be delayed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be severely limited in spotting or investigating disease outbreaks, from flu to that mysterious MERS virus from the Middle East.

FOOD SAFETY
The Food and Drug Administration will handle high-risk recalls suspend most routine safety inspections. Federal meat inspections will proceed as usual.

HEAD START
A small number of Head Start programs, about 20 out of 1,600 nationally, will feel the impact right away. The federal Administration for Children and Families says grants expiring about Oct. 1 will not be renewed. Over time more programs would be affected. Several of the Head Start programs that will immediately feel the pinch are in Florida. It's unclear if they will continue serving children.

FOOD ASSISTANCE
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could shut down. The program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education for pregnant women, mothers and their children.

School lunches and breakfasts will continue to be served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will continue to be distributed.

TAXES
Americans will still have to pay their taxes and file federal tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service says it will suspend all audits. Got questions? Sorry, the IRS says taxpayer services, including toll-free help lines, are shutdown as well.

LOANS
Many low-to-moderate incomes borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking government-backed mortgages could face delays during the shutdown. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, will not underwrite or approve any new loans during the shutdown. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses will be suspended.

SCIENCE
NASA will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service will keep forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center will continue to track storms. The scientific work of the U.S. Geological Survey will be halted.

HOMELAND SECURITY
The majority of the Department of Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees will continue to process green card applications.

MILITARY
The military's 1.4 million active duty personnel will stay on duty, but their paychecks will be delayed. About half of the Defense Department's civilian employees will be furloughed.

PRISONS
All 116 federal prisons will remain open, and criminal litigation will proceed.

VETERANS SERVICES
Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans would still be able to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators would still staff the crisis hotline and claims workers would still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits. But those veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait longer for a decision because the board would not issue any decisions during a shutdown.

WORK SAFETY
Federal occupational safety and health inspectors will stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent danger.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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