Few questions about my plan to visit three national parks on an upcoming cross country road trip considering the current govt shutdown

Sorry in advance if this isn't the best place to post this. I'm moving (NYC to LA) and planning to drive across the country with my girlfriend and cat at the end of November. I'm an extensive planner, and I've essentially planned out the entirety of our week-long trip, including stops at three different National Parks along the way.

The initial park plan was to visit El Saguaro (East Loop), the Grand Canyon (South Rim), and Joshua Tree. As far as I understand, I shouldn't have issues with my Grand Canyon or Joshua Tree visits as roads/open-air areas should be open. El Saguaro, however, I'm a little concerned about - I see that the east loop at Rincon Mountain is closed, and that was the main scenic area I really wanted to drive through at El Saguaro. Is there any indication whether I'll be able to visit El Saguaro at the end of the month, or should I already be planning to go elsewhere during that time? Any other suggestions that capture the scenic beauty in/near the Tucson area?

Additionally, I'm curious what your thoughts are on whether purchasing an $80 annual national park pass is necessary for my situation. As far as I understand, they're not collecting entrance fees at any of the National Parks, so I'm wondering if people have just been going without them, bringing them but not using them, or what the case has been. My initial thought process was that since we're planning to visit three parks, the annual pass makes more sense than three individual entrance fees, both cost-wise and considering it covers any future park visits through November 2026. Now, I'm not so sure if it makes sense to buy.

If anybody has any additional information about these parks or if anyone would like to share their experience on recent visits during the shutdown, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for the help!