Government Shutdown: What to Expect in San Diego County

As Congress continues to spar over budgets and the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, the federal government ran out of money at midnight Monday.

Here's list of how San Diego County residents will be affected, based on official contingency plans, Congressional information and media reports.

Military – Active duty personnel will be paid because of a last-minute Congressional agreement. However, many of the 26,000 civilian defense employees in San Diego will likely be furloughed.

Border Patrol – The Border Patrol will remain on the job, but staff may not be paid on schedule.

FBI – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is considered essential and will continue to operate, but staff might not be paid on schedule.

Airports – Air traffic control and security screening at Lindbergh Field will continue, but staff might not be paid on schedule.

Social Security -- Payments will continue as scheduled, but applications for new benefits may be delayed.

Medicare -- Medical treatment will continue, but applications for new benefits and payments to doctors may be delayed.

Veterans – Disability compensation and pension payments to veterans will cease after two or three weeks.

Courts – The federal courts in downtown San Diego have funding for approximately two weeks of operation and will then begin to shut down.

Weather Forecasts – The employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are considered essential and will stay at work.

National Parks – All national parks, including the Cabrillo National Monument, and the museums of the Smithsonian Institute are closed.

Energy – Employees of the Department of Energy who oversee the nation's nuclear arsenal and power plants like the San Onofre Nuclear Generating station will stay at work.

Environment – The Environmental Protection Agency will essentially shut down.

NASA – The space agency will furlough most employees and stop work on most space-related activities, according to Space.com.

Home Loans – The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about a third of home mortgages, will not approve any new loan applications.

IRS – The Internal Revenue Service will furlough most staff and cease audits, examinations of returns, processing of paper returns, and answering questions for taxpayers.

U.S. Mail – The Postal Service is self-supporting and will continue to operate.

On Monday, a bipartisan group of San Diego City Council members and San Diego County supervisors called on Congress to avoid a shutdown.

"This city and its citizens already are suffering from the dire effects of sequestration,'' Councilwoman Sherri Lightner said at a news conference. "A government shutdown would be a double-whammy, with devastating effects on our businesses, residents and operation of local, county and state governments.''

Do you have a question or concern about a shutdown or Obamacare and want to contact your elected leaders? San Diego County is represented by Republican Congressmen Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter; Democrats Scott Peters, Susan Davis and Juan Vargas; and by Democratic Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.