A possible government shutdown looms over the nation after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested earlier this week that Senate Democrats would not provide the votes to pass the House-approved deal to fund the government.
If the funding bill is not passed, the government will shut down at midnight Friday, giving Americans until Monday to feel the initial impact.
The possibility of a shutdown means many federally funded national parks, monuments and attractions could be closed until the government reopens.
Attractions that could be closed during the shutdown
Even though popular Washington, D.C., attractions like the Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo and the National Gallery of Art are federally funded, they “may stay open or offer limited access if they’ve set aside reserve funding,” according to the city’s tourism website.
A sign on the door of The National Museum of the American Indian states that the museum is closed as the partial shutdown of the U.S. government goes into the 12th day, Jan. 2, 2019 in Washington, D.C.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
During the 2018 shutdown, these attractions were able to stay open for an additional 11 days after a lapse in federal funding, the website said. And before a possible shutdown in 2023, the Smithsonian Institution and National Gallery of Art said they were prepared to remain open for an extra week.
Most federally funded attractions and museums offer free admission, meaning visitors do not need to worry about getting a ticket refunded during the possible shutdown.
National parks and monuments that could be closed during the shutdown
The National Park Service has not yet released guidance on its plans for the possible shutdown as of Thursday, but previous shutdowns give insight on what could happen.
When a possible government shutdown loomed over the U.S. in 2023, the Department of Interior said all national parks would be closed “completely to public access,” the agency said in a press release at the time.
Park Rangers stand at the closed gate to Joshua Tree National Park, in Joshua Tree, Calif., Oct. 2, 2013.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
“Gates will be locked, visitor centers will be closed and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed,” the agency said back in 2023.
But according to the D.C. tourism website “open-air national parks” like the National Mall and Rock Creek Park remain physically accessible to the public during a possible government shutdown.
Monuments like the Statue of Liberty may also still be open during a shutdown. During the 2013 government shutdown, the National Park Service entered an agreement with New York, allowing the “Statue of Liberty National Monument to reopen and temporarily operate during the government shutdown,” the agency said in a 2013 press release.
Even if national parks and monuments are able to remain open during a shutdown, there may be limited access, with services like ranger-led tours and memorial shops typically going on hiatus, according to the D.C. tourism website.