Among the affects of a federal shutdown: delays in processing passport and visa applications, issuing gun permits, continuing U.S. bankruptcy court cases and approving mortgage applications. 
 
 In this Nov. 15, 1995, file photo, a U.S. Park Service police officer stands in front of closed signs at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, during a partial shutdown of the federal government. (Photo: AP file photo) Story Highlights If budget deal is not worked out, federal government will shut down after midnight Monday 
 
 Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments would continue during a shutdown 
 
 About 41 percent of nondefense federal employees would be furloughed 
 
 WASHINGTON – If Democrats and Republicans don't reach a spending deal by midnight Monday, a partial government shutdown will take effect. 
 
 The 2013 fiscal year ends at midnight Monday. Many federal programs and activities will stop beginning Tuesday and won't restart until a new deal is in place. 
 
 Here's a guide to understanding how Congress got to this stage and how a shutdown would affect you. 
 
 Question: Will the entire government come to a standstill if a deal isn't reached? 
 
 Answer: No. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other "entitlement" programs that are funded automatically will escape the worst effects. But government agencies that rely on yearly congressional appropriations will be hit a lot harder. That includes giant agencies such as the Pentagon and smaller ones such as the National Park Service. 
 
 WHERE DO YOU FIT?: Breaking down the Affordable Care Act 
 
 Federal agencies have prepared plans to continue programs they deem critical to maintaining public safety and protecting property despite the shutdown. Employees who perform those critical functions will continue to work and get paid. 
 
 For instance, air traffic controllers and firefighters contracted by the National Forest Service would continue to work, but park rangers and researchers who conduct clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health would be furloughed. 
 
 USA TODAY estimates that about 41 percent of nondefense federal employees will be furloughed, but the remaining 59 percent will continue working. 
 
 Q: Will I still get my mail? 
 
 A: Yes. The U.S. Postal Service isn't funded by taxpayers. Independently financed agencies like the Postal Service won't be affected. 
 
 Q: How did Congress get in this situation? 
 
 A: In a word, partisanship. Differences between Democrats and Republicans are deepening over virtually every issue, and federal spending is the biggest one of all. 
 
 A temporary spending measure -- a continuing resolution, or CR -- approved by the GOP-controlled House on Sept. 20 would have kept the government running until mid-December but would have cut funding to implement the Affordable Care Act. 
 
 The Democratic-majority Senate rejected that plan, designed to gut President Barack Obama's signature health care law. On Friday the Senate approved its own CR that included money for the law known as "Obamacare." 
 
 House leaders are meeting over the weekend to consider their next move. If the House modifies the Senate CR as Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised, then the Senate has to approve the amended version before it reaches the White House. 
 
 It's unclear if and when those legislative steps will be fulfilled. Short answer: Things remain in limbo. 
 
 Q: What will be the impact of a shutdown? 
 
 A: All national parks and federal wildlife refuges would be closed for the duration of the shutdown, the Interior Department said Friday. About 9 million visitors were turned away from parks, museums and monuments run by the National Park Service in the mid-1990s, the last time the government shut down temporarily. 
 
 About 40 percent of the nation's 2 million federal workers would be furloughed. Though Congress has approved restoring lost pay retroactively in the past, there's no guarantee lawmakers will do that this time. 
 
 About 1.4 million active-duty military personnel must remain on the job but won't get paid until a new deal is signed into law. Active National Guard units also must continue to work. Most civilian employees of the Defense Department face furloughs. 
 
 Some other possibilities: Delays in processing tens of thousands of passport and visa applications, issuing gun permits, continuing U.S. bankruptcy court cases and approving mortgage applications. 
 
 Many congressional and White House staffers also may have to stay home. But members of Congress and the president are exempt from furloughs 
 
 Q: Has the government been shut down in the past? 
 
 A: Yes. The last one lasted 21 days from Dec. 15, 1995, to Jan. 6, 1996, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. It came soon after a five-day shutdown that lasted from Nov. 13-19, 1995. A disagreement over tax cuts between then-President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., precipitated those shutdowns. 
 
 Since 1976, there have been 17 shutdowns, though before the 1980s the government continued operating at reduced levels without furloughing workers. 
 
 Q: Isn't there going to be another showdown over raising the debt limit? 
 
 A: That's highly likely. Republicans, particularly ultraconservative tea party members, argue the debt ceiling shouldn't be raised unless Congress makes sizable spending cuts. 
 
 Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said the government will run out of money around Oct. 17. In addition to using tax revenues, the Obama administration has to borrow more money to pay bills the nation has already racked up. But Congress has to raise the debt limit to allow increased borrowing -- and that permission won't come without another fight. 
 
 If the debt ceiling isn't raised, the U.S. economy will suffer even more that under a shutdown, Obama said Friday. For instance, interest rates on credit cards, student loans and mortgages loans could rise. And the nation's creditworthiness -- and global influence -- would take a beating, experts say, though critics dismiss such talk as hyperbole. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/19IaFCl ||||| Shutting down the government is nothing like the slow-motion calamity that is sequestration. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will face indefinite furloughs. National parks from Yosemite to Acadia will be closed. And if the spending standoff lasts into late October, veterans’ benefit payments would trickle to a stop. 
 
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 reset Shutdown news roundup VandeHei: It's going to get worse 
 
 Unlike this year’s across-the-board spending cuts that rarely lived up to the hype, Americans will notice soon enough that their government services have been disrupted — if not canceled. So, Monday will have been the day to get a last look at the National Zoo’s panda cam. 
 
 “It’s a different kettle of fish when you say people aren’t going to show up at all,” said a former Clinton administration official central to planning for the last government shutdown in 1995 and 1996. 
 
 (POLITICO's full government shutdown coverage) 
 
 Appearing in the White House briefing room Monday just hours before the deadline, President Barack Obama assured Americans that air traffic controllers and federal prison guards would remain on the job. They will also still get their Social Security checks and Medicare help. But it won’t be pretty either, he warned, especially for the federal workers who will be sent home without pay until there’s an agreement on Capitol Hill. 
 
 “A shutdown will have a very real economic impact on real people right away,” Obama said. 
 
 So how exactly does the U.S. government close its doors? 
 
 The official word won’t come from the CNN countdown clock. It came via a guidance memo from White House Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell — shortly before midnight Monday — instructing department heads to begin implementing their specific shutdown contingency plans. 
 
 (WATCH: Shutdown: Democrats vs. Republicans) 
 
 All federal employees should still show up for work Tuesday, where their managers will distribute the official notices on who is and isn’t essential to daily operations. That’s a tricky enough question — one loaded with both legal ramifications and a good bit of psychological baggage — but essentially boils down to the Cabinet secretaries and a skeleton operations crew who have jobs that involve protection of public safety or government property: think military troops, meat inspectors and border patrol. 
 
 The furloughed workers will have until about lunchtime Tuesday to wrap up any last-minute business at their desks: securing files, cancelling meetings, conferences and trips, setting up their ‘out-of-office’ email replies and updating voice mail recordings to say they won’t be back on the job until there’s a budget agreement. 
 
 Federal employees are also being told to track news sites for updates on when they can come back to work. And as for any other questions about the strict rules surrounding furloughs? Those can be answered by a handy Office of Personnel Management guidance document that describes frequently asked questions like prohibitions on voluntary government work and moonlighting. 
 
 (WATCH: Boehner 'confident' House will pass CR) 
 
 Some of the largest furloughs will hit the Pentagon and 400,000 of its civilian workers. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel fretted Monday about how these workers have been among those hit hard by sequestration — with a summer full of unpaid furlough days. Still, he said decisions to send them home without pay “are dictated solely by the law” for protecting people and property. 
 
 “The furloughs are in no way a reflection of the importance of your work, the hard effort you put forth every day, or your dedicated service to our department and our nation,” Hagel said in a memo to Defense Department employees while traveling in South Korea. 
 
 As for the uniformed troops, they too must report to work, though they’ll have the benefit of receiving their pay thanks to a rare legislative agreement between the House and Senate. 
 
 (PHOTOS: 17 times the government has shut down) 
 
 The news isn’t so good for veterans. Benefit checks from the Department of Veterans Affairs, including disability claim checks and pension payments, are expected to last only two or three weeks beyond the start of the shutdown. Assistance for veteran-run businesses also will cease, while rehabilitation and education counseling are likely to be limited. 
 
 Some programs and government offices will remain open during the shutdown because they rely on mandatory spending or funding streams outside the annual congressional appropriations process. That’s why it’s full steam ahead for the Obamacare insurance exchanges — which coincidentally go live Tuesday — that are central to the Capitol Hill budget impasse. 
 
 It’s also why the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak will continue operating, along with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and some parts of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — all of which get funding from the federal fuel tax. 
 
 Many others aren’t so lucky. ||||| Looking for news you can trust? 
 
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 Update: The midnight deadline came and went without a deal from House Republicans and Senate Democrats (except for one small bill, on military pay). Welcome to the Shutdown. 
 
 The government will shut down at midnight unless President Obama and Congress can agree on a temporary resolution to continue funding federal agencies. (Spoiler: They probably won’t.) 
 
 Here’s a quick guide to who and what will be most affected: 
 
 Anyone who might get sick: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would lack funding to support its annual flu vaccination program. 
 
 Military personnel: Barring last-minute congressional action, members of the armed forces would have their paychecks put on hold while they continue to work. 
 
 People who use boats: The Coast Guard will cut back on routine patrols and navigation assistance. 
 
 Civilian defense employees: 400,000 Department of Defense employees will be given unpaid vacations. 
 
 Family members of fallen soldiers: Death benefits for military families will be delayed. 
 
 Gun owners: During the 1990s shutdown, applications for gun permits were delayed due to furloughs at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 
 
 Trees: Hundreds of US Forest Service workers face furloughs in California during peak forest fire season. 
 
 Visa applicants: Furloughs at the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs mean tens of thousands of visa applications are put on hold. 
 
 People traveling abroad: A shutdown would cause delays in the processing of passport applications. 
 
 Sick people: The National Institutes of Health will not admit new patients unless ordered by the director. 
 
 Factory workers: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will halt regular inspections. 
 
 Hikers: All 401 National Park Service sites will be closed. 
 
 People who make money off tourists: Shuttered national parks are bad news for the hotels, restaurants, and other attractions that feed off them. 
 
 Small business loan applicants: The Small Business Administration will furlough 62 percent of its workforce. 
 
 Employers: The Department of Homeland Security’s e-Verify program will be offline for the duration of the shutdown. 
 
 Fountains: 45 of them will lose water. 
 
 People applying for mortgages: The Federal Housing Administration and the USDA won’t guarantee new loans. 
 
 Oil and gas exploration: The Bureau of Land Management will stop processing permits for oil and gas drilling on federal lands. 
 
 Chemical site facility security: Funding for Department of Homeland Security regulatory program ends October 4. 
 
 FOIA requests: The Social Security Administration says it won’t respond to Freedom of Information Act Requests during the shutdown. 
 
 Docents: All Smithsonian Institution museums in Washington, DC, will be closed. 
 
 @CuriosityRover: 98 percent of NASA’s staff will be furloughed, and the agency’s website and live-streams will go dark. 
 
 Renewable energy permits: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will stop all new offshore renewable-energy projects. 
 
 Campers: People living (or vacationing) in national parks and forests will have 48 hours to relocate. 
 
 Animal voyeurs: Watch the National Zoo’s Panda-cam while you still can. 
 
 Native Americans: The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement will suspend oversight of active and abandoned coal mines “primarily in Tennessee and on Indian lands.” 
 
 Pesticide regulators: The Environmental Protection Agency will all but shut down at midnight. 
 
 Veterans pensions: The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will run out of funding for regular payment checks after a few weeks. 
 
 US Geological Survey researchers: The agency would stop most new scientific research and water analysis. 
 
 Disability payments: Although the VA will continue to provide medical care, disability payments may also be disrupted after a few weeks. 
 
 Winery permits: Couldn’t they take the wine coolers instead? 
 
 Ponies: The Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro adoption programs would cease. 
 
 Infectious disease surveillance: The CDC will be unable to track outbreaks and monitor infectious diseases at a local level. 
 
 People on food assistance: The USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) will stop making payments on October 1. 
 
 Food inspections: The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration warned of “inability to investigate alleged violations” due to a lack of funding; food imports will also go uninspected. 
 
 Automobile recall inspectors: “Routine defects and recall information from manufacturers and consumers would not be reviewed,” according to the Department of Transportation. 
 
 Food and drug safety research: The Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, will furlough 52 percent of its staff. 
 
 ARPA-E: The Department of Energy’s cutting-edge research arm—and one of the crowning legacies of the stimulus—will shut down, putting projects such as “squirtable batteries” on hold. 
 
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission: The agency could furlough more than 92 percent of its employees next week, with much of the remaining staff handling inspections. 
 
 People without heat: If the shutdown persists, it could affect the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funds heating assistance programs. 
 
 Consumers: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will furlough 652 of its 680 employees and maintain only a “bare minimum level of oversight and surveillance” to stop fraudulent practices. 
 
 People trying to pay taxes: The Internal Revenue Service will shutter its tax hotline, and stop processing tax payments. 
 
 College students: Cutbacks at the Department of Education could slow Pell grant and student-loan payments. 
 
 Economists: The Bureau of Economic Analysis will cut back on its data collection. 
 
 Welfare recipients: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families—welfare—runs out of funding on October 1, although individual states may pick up the tab. 
 
 Head Start: The child development program, already hammered by the effects of sequestration, will stop doling out new grants on October 1. 
 
 Air monitoring: A 94 percent reduction in staff won’t leave the EPA much room to enforce its new carbon regulations. 
 
 Golf: Courses at National Park Service sites will close for the shutdown. So at least we have that going for us.
– The House and Senate's failure to reach a deal to resolve the budget brouhaha has left the US without a functioning federal government for the first time in 17 years—and the two sides seem so averse to compromise that it's anyone's guess when the shutdown will end. Federal agencies have been ordered to "execute plans for an orderly shutdown," meaning around 800,000 federal workers will be furloughed immediately and another million or so, including Border Patrol agents and air traffic controllers, will be asked to work without pay, the New York Times reports. In the past, federal workers—though not contractors—have been reimbursed for time missed, but it's unclear whether Congress will approve a similar measure this time around, the Washington Post finds in its guide to the shutdown's impact on federal workers. Politico explains the process for furloughing workers: Federal employees do have to go to work today; once there, they'll be handed an official notice outlining who is essential. Those who aren't will have until mid-day to wrap things up and set up those out-of-office auto-replies. Social Security and Medicare benefits, veterans' services, and the US Postal Service will not be affected, but national parks, monuments, and other government offices are closed, and transportation safety inspectors nationwide have been furloughed, the AP finds. The Post reports that all but 549 of NASA's 18,250 employees will be furloughed ... in a slightly cruel twist, on the agency's 55th birthday. Last-minute legislation ensures that members of the military will keep receiving their paychecks. Members of Congress will also keep getting paid, but their employees will have to either work without pay or be furloughed, the Federal Times reports. Mother Jones looks at some of the more quirky casualties: the National Zoo's Panda-cam, winery permits, National Park Service golf courses, Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro adoption programs, and 45 fountains. John Boehner has called for a special House-Senate committee to resolve the two parties' differences, but some senior Republicans believe the shutdown could last at least a week, the Washington Post reports. Democrats, meanwhile, believe that the funding battle could overlap with debt-limit talks that need to be resolved before October 17.