How will the government shutdown affect NIH grants?

The government shutdown has everyone in the scientific community on edge.  How long will it last?  Will important projects be set behind due to temporary delays? Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how long this will last or how bad things will get.  A recently published news article in Nature describes many of the potential impacts of a prolonged shutdown.  For now, we do know that currently-funded research projects can continue to conduct business as usual.  However, no new grants will be awarded.  If federal workers are furloughed, it will delay questions and conversations with NIH program staff.  We can only hope that all sides come to a resolution that will keep our government going.  I am very disappointed in the Democrats who seemed to want this to happen to score political points.  The operations of the US government are not a game.