A sign for informing that Lincoln Memorial is closed due to the government shutdown is seen in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, on Oct. 1, 2013. The U.S. government has begun a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year. (Xinhua/Lv Mingxiang)

A man passes by the federal building in Los Angeles, Oct. 1, 2013. The U.S. federal government on Tuesday lurched into a partial shutdown, the first in 17 years, as American lawmakers failed to agree to a spending bill for keeping the federal government running beyond midnight Monday. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)