Many tourist sites and national parks could be closed to visitors as part of a partial US government shutdown from today.
The partial shutdown started after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year.
A midnight deadline passed without agreement despite a last-gasp appeal by president Barack Obama.
It is the US government’s first partial shutdown in 17 years.
The closure of government departments could close national parks, including the Statue of Liberty in New York City, meaning a loss of 750,000 daily visitors and an economic loss of as much as $30 million for each day parks are shut, according to the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association.
Some tourist spots in the nation’s capital may close, including the FDR Memorial, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Archives, the National Zoo and all Smithsonian Museums.