A look at how a shutdown would affect Americans from the Associated Press and the Albert Lea Tribune.

You’d still get your mail — and your usual Social Security payment. But troops’ pay might be delayed, and you’d have to put off that spring break trip to a national park. How government services would or wouldn’t be affected if there’s a partial shutdown Friday at midnight:

• Benefit payments: Social Security payments will continue, and applications will still be processed. Unemployment benefits will still go out. Medicare will still pay claims for recipients, but payments to doctors and hospitals could be delayed if the shutdown were prolonged.

• Mail: Deliveries as usual (U.S. postal operations are not subsidized by tax dollars).

• Recreation: National parks around the country will be gated. The National Zoo and Smithsonian in Washington, too. The White House says a shutdown would cancel the popular National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in the nation’s capital this weekend, though organizers are still hoping to go ahead.

• Taxes and loans: The IRS will not process paper returns, but the filing deadline will remain April 18 — already delayed three days because of a local holiday in Washington. It’s unclear whether taxpayer help lines would be staffed. Tax audits will be suspended. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, will stop that work. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses will be suspended.

• Air travel: Air traffic controllers will stay on the job. Federal inspectors who enforce safety rules, too.

• International travel: The State Department will continue to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in need. But other services, such as issuing travel visas and passports, could be delayed or stop.

• Military and public protection: Pay for U.S. troops will be delayed, and some civilian Defense Department employees would be furloughed. Military operations in the Middle East and earthquake assistance to Japan would not be interrupted. All 116 federal prisons would remain open, and criminal litigation would proceed.

• Health care: Medical research at the National Institutes of Health would be disrupted, though patients would continue to receive care. The Centers for Disease Control would respond to an outbreak.

• Work safety: Inspectors would stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent danger.

• Dining out: Any emergencies involving food contamination still would be dealt with.

• Weather: The work done by the National Weather Service will continue.

• Business: Applications to the Small Business Administration for loans will come to a halt.

• Justice: Judges salaries will not be interrupted, but it remains unclear for many law clerks. It will depend on whether their work will be deemed essential. Criminal trials should continue as scheduled, with civil trials delayed. Access to the courts could be limited. Probation officers could be reduced.

• Law enforcement and intelligence: The FBI is the only intelligence-gathering agency that hasn’t been fully funded. The intelligence and terrorism-fighting portions of the agency will continue, but parts of the crime-investigation arm would be curtailed, such as combating white-collar crime and child pornography, and the ability to train new agents.

• Congress: Staffers would be on furlough, but members of Congress will continue to get paid.

• Websites: Government websites will remain functional, but many of them will not be updated.

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