President Barack Obama has said 'a shutdown will have a very real economic impact on real people.'
The last time the US government shut down in 1995, it cost the federal government 1.5 billion dollars, that is, 2.1 billion dollars today.
Tourism revenue would decline as US federal parks close during a shutdown.
The U.S. Government has begun a partial shutdown for the first time in 17 years after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year.
A midnight deadline over the president's health care law passed without agreement despite a last-gasp appeal by President Barack Obama.
More than 700,000 US government workers face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.
According to the BBC, Republicans have insisted on delaying Obama's health care reforms as a condition for passing the budget.
One of the first casualties of the shutdown was the Twitter account for the US Capitol.
Under the shutdown, national parks and Washington's Smithsonian museums will close, pension and veterans' benefit cheques will be delayed and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would have substantially reduced capacity to investigate the outbreak of diseases.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would be significantly cut back, and would not perform any audits during a shutdown.
Federal loans for homebuyers and small businesses would be suspended during a shutdown.
Benefits for pensioners and military veterans, while scheduled to be delivered as normal, could be subject to delays.
Buying and selling guns would be made significantly more difficult, as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, which processes permit requests, would face significant cutbacks.
Programmes deemed essential, such as air traffic control and food inspections, will continue.
Department of education will still distribute 22 billion dollars to public schools, but staffing is expected to be severely hit
According to the report, the defence department has advised employees that uniformed members of the military will continue on normal duty, but that large numbers of civilian workers will be told to stay home.
