Despite the federal government’s partial shutdown Tuesday, it was business as usual for most federal agencies in Iowa.

Although the national park visitor centers and monuments are closed and passports are only being issued for emergency situations, veterans hospitals, post offices, the FDIC, U. S. military offices and all Department of Agriculture program offices remain open.

Student loan payments, Social Security checks, welfare checks (including AFDC and food stamps), veteran benefits and Medicare payments will continue being sent to recipients, though new applications for most of these programs may be not accepted or delayed until the government comes back on line.

Steffen Schmidt, an ISU political science professor, said the government shutdown is really not something to worry about at this point.

“I think this is not going to be a very long government shutdown,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said both the Republican Congress and the president are using this to make their points and now that they’ve made them, “both better figure it out,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt said if the furlough continued for an extended period of time it would cause some inconvenience, but not many people would be seriously affected.

People needing to leave the country might be temporarily unable to receive a passport, but the post office is still accepting passport applications.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa State Student Financial Aid Office, Roberta Johnson, said student loans will remain unaffected because the loans are an “essential service.”

Some government offices that are closed include the Des Moines Area Environmental Protection Agency, the fish and wildlife service of the Department of the Interior and the Small Business Administration.

In addition, Schmidt said some federally funded research or labs may be closed until the furlough is over, but only research that is considered nonessential by the government.

There have been nine government shutdowns since 1981. None have lasted more than four days.

The quickest way to bring the government back on line is for Congress to pass a continuing resolution. However, Schmidt said this is not the best option since it allows the government to spend exactly as it did before the shutdown.