Agencies are bracing for closures

File photo by Katye Martens, USA TODAY

Yellowstone National Park would be one of 393 national parks that would close in the event of a federal government shutdown.

EnlargeCloseFile photo by Katye Martens, USA TODAY

Yellowstone National Park would be one of 393 national parks that would close in the event of a federal government shutdown.

Among the possible impacts:

•Department of Defense: April 15 paychecks to service members and civilians would be for eight days instead of two weeks, according to a memo to members of Congress from Kevin Lannon, the Pentagon's director for military personnel and construction.

SHUTDOWN: Countdown stokes anxietyLOBBYING: Americans press Congress for their piece of the pieMONEY: Congress, Obama get paid in a government shutdownTRAVEL: Looming shutdown would close national parks, museums•District of Columbia: Because Congress approves Washington's city budget, some core city functions will stop, Mayor Vincent Gray announced. Those services include trash pick-up, street sweeping, taxicab regulation, most road repairs and public libraries.

•Internal Revenue Service: A shutdown would delay refunds for taxpayers who file paper tax returns, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told reporters at the National Press Club Wednesday. Returns that are filed electronically wouldn't be affected. He said a shutdown would not move back the deadline, which is April 18 this year.

•Amtrak: The rail system gets a $1.5 billion federal subsidy, but can rely on ticket revenue to keep operating in the short term, CEO Joe Boardman told employees in a newsletter last month.

•Federal courts: The judicial system could use other money to keep running for up to two weeks, said David Sellers of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. After that, the courts could continue essential work — which includes settling cases — without funding.

•National Institutes of Health: The agency won't start any studies, spokesman John Burklow said. Seven are scheduled to start next week.

Other agencies would not discuss their plans. But a senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity, outlined some of the possible effects of a shutdown to reporters in a conference call Wednesday. Those could include:

•Department of Homeland Security: Most functions would continue under a law allowing activities to protect human life and property.

•Department of Veterans Affairs: All operations would continue.

•Federal Housing Administration: New loan guarantees for FHA mortgages — the government-backed loans that require low down payments — would not be processed. FHA loans account for 30% of the housing market.

•Medicare: Payments to doctors and hospitals would continue.

•National Park Service: All 393 national parks would close, as would other federal tourist attractions such as the Smithsonian Institution. Washington's annual Cherry Blossom Festival — with its signature event, Saturday's Cherry Blossom Parade — would be cancelled.

•Social Security Administration: Checks to existing beneficiaries would continue automatically. It's unclear whether the agency would be staffed to process new applications, or to process changes of address or other account updates.

•State Department: Passport offices nationally had planned an annual "Passport Day in the USA" Saturday — special weekend hours to help process passports and visas. It would also be the first day of the shutdown.

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