How the Shutdown Is Affecting Federal Services and Workers
By Elena Shao, Lazaro Gamio and Ashley Wu
Roughly 700,000 federal employees are working without pay during the government shutdown, which recently became the longest in U.S. history.
The shutdown has suspended the work of at least 600,000 workers since Oct. 1. Many more employees are required to report to work without pay until funding is restored.
Sources: Official government agency websites
Note: Numbers for the Treasury are partial and exclude two small subagencies that have not yet released plans.
Ahead of the shutdown, departments designated a certain number of “essential” employees, such as air traffic controllers, that must work during the shutdown.
However, President Trump has been able to reprogram billions of dollars of funds to pay certain federal personnel that are essential to his political agenda — including active-duty military, federal law enforcement officers and immigration agents — who typically work without pay during shutdowns until funding is restored.
The White House recently left open the possibility that it might not follow its legal obligation to restore those workers’ back pay.
In early October, the Trump administration seized on the shutdown to lay off more federal workers, sending out notices to about 4,000 people across at least seven major federal agencies. The firings were delayed after a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from proceeding with its proposed layoffs.
Here are agencies that Mr. Trump targeted for layoffs during the shutdown:
Note: Sept. 2024 and pre-shutdown figures for Homeland Security exclude U.S. Coast Guard. The figures shown here are an update to the administration's originally announced figures, which the government said included data discrepancies and processing errors. The notices employees at the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department received said their position may be affected by future layoffs.
Here is a look inside each agency’s contingency plan, which details how employees could be affected and which activities and programs will continue or be suspended.
Work with pay 13% 11,493
Work with no pay 37% 32,158
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, although payments could be disrupted later in the year
Nutrition programs for women and children, though new applicants may be turned away
Inspections of meat, poultry and egg products
Animal and plant health programs related to diseases like bird flu
Access to remote recreational sites
Non-essential research and data collection
Hazardous fuel treatments, including prescribed fires
Work with pay 4% 1,810
Work with no pay 15% 6,463
Weather forecasts and warnings to the public of hazardous weather conditions
Various maritime activities, including fishery monitoring, water level monitoring for ships entering U.S. ports and updates to nautical charts
Patent processing and approval, as long as reserve funds are available
Most activities at the Census Bureau, like survey collection or the production of monthly reports
Most research activities across the department
Defense (civilian work force)
Work with pay 25% 182,684
Work with no pay 30% 223,889
Military operations, but troops will work without pay during the shutdown
Recruiting and training operations
Continues to work 13% 330
Disbursement of student aid, such as Federal Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student Loans (and loan borrowers are still required to make payments on outstanding debt)
Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants funding
New grantmaking activities (though grantees will still be able to access previously awarded funds)
Review and investigations of complaints by the Office for Civil Rights
Work with pay 30% 4,103
Work with no pay 12% 1,604
Maintenance, development and safeguarding of nuclear weapons stockpile
Some functions at regional grid operators
Work with pay 5% 828
Work with no pay 6% 906
Emergency and disaster assistance
Protection of E.P.A. land, buildings and equipment
Preservation of ongoing experiments
Cleanup of Superfund sites that pose “an imminent threat to human life”
Issuance of new permits, guidance, regulations or grants
Cleanup of Superfund sites where the E.P.A. has determined there is “no imminent threat to human health and property”
Health and Human Services
Work with pay 44% 35,096
Work with no pay 15% 12,161
Medicare benefits (however, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may not be able to issue replacement cards)
Preservation of ongoing experiments at the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.)
Operations at the N.I.H. biomedical research hospital
The World Trade Center Health Program and the Vaccines for Children program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.)
Review of some drug and medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and investigations and inspections of imports
Routine safety surveillance of products including compounded obesity medications
Efforts to eliminate problematic food chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives
Routine inspections of food and medication facilities
Issuance of new N.I.H. grants and basic research conducted by N.I.H. scientists
Admittance of new patients at the N.I.H. hospital
C.D.C. communications to the public and guidance to state and local health departments on public health matters
F.D.A. approval of some new drug and medical device applications
Work with pay 16% 44,466
Work with no pay 78% 213,277
Work from immigration, border and customs agents, including most of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 20,000 employees
Customs enforcement on imports, including the collection of tariffs
Citizenship and green card applications, although delays could occur
Duties of Transportation Security Administration airport screeners (who will continue to work without pay)
Housing and Urban Development
Work with pay 2% 143
Work with no pay 26% 1,603
Grant programs providing emergency housing for the homeless
Review of housing discrimination complaints
Work with pay 33% 19,471
Work with no pay 14% 8,152
Access to some national parks, but some services may be unavailable
Inspections of oil and gas and logging operations
Public access to some wildlife refuges
Most U.S. Geological Survey data collection and dissemination, including satellite and water quality data
Work with pay 4% 4,930
Work with no pay 85% 97,361
Work of the U.S. Marshals and agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field divisions and the Drug Enforcement Administration
Maintenance of federal prisons, including medical care of inmates
Most training of state and local officers
Work with pay 4% 564
Work with no pay 20% 2,560
Mandated inspections and investigations of mines
Data releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces monthly jobs data
Inspections of situations that are not considered to be posing “imminent danger,” as authorized by the Occupational Safety and Health Act
Work with pay 75% 4,636
Work with no pay 2% 109
Loans for disaster preparedness and response
Processing of certain loan applications that help tens of thousands of small businesses each year
Work with pay <1% 149
Work with no pay 88% 45,479
Social Security retirement and disability payments
Continues to work 38% 10,344
Visa and passport processing
U.S. embassies and consulates abroad
Most new grants and contracts
Work with pay 22% 11,980
Work with no pay 55% 29,524
Air traffic controllers (who will work without pay)
Work with pay 97% 78,793
Work with no pay <1% 636
Duties of the Internal Revenue Service, for at least the first five business days of the shutdown
Economic and market recommendations and updates to the President
Issuance of industry regulations and guidance
Work with pay 90% 417,447
Work with no pay 6% 29,181
Veteran medical care, homelessness programs and the Veterans Crisis Line
Pension, housing and other benefits for veterans
Assistance for veterans transitioning to civilian life
Not all agencies explicitly stated the number of employees who must work and those who would be furloughed. In those cases, the numbers were calculated from additional information included in the plans, and may include some duplicate counts. Data does not necessarily reflect the most up-to-date employment numbers for an agency’s total work force; some agencies provided numbers based on personnel data from as early as March 2025.
Data is based on publicly available contingency plans from the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration and Treasury.