What Happens to Federal Workers and Their Pay During a Shutdown

As the federal government shutdown has dragged into its seventh day, questions remain around how long-lasting the effects of service suspensions and funding cuts could be. President Donald Trump has floated cuts to programs and threatened layoffs to some of the roughly 750,000 workers projected to be furloughed, or temporarily suspended without pay, during the shutdown, although that plan has already faced challenges in court. Some services have already been suspended, while others that continue could experience disruptions due to a shrunken workforce. Here’s what to know about how the government shutdown affects the federal workforce. Who works and who gets furloughed? During the shutdown, each federal agency decides which of its employees are “essential” or “excepted,” who are required to continue working through the shutdown but don’t get paid until government funding is restored. Essential workers can include military personnel on active duty, law enforcement officers, and other public safety officers. The National Guard, which has been deployed in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tenn., and Chicago, Ill., will remain on duty. New non-essential deployments or orders, however, cannot be issued during the shutdown. The Department of Veterans Affairs said that it expected nearly all of its employees to continue working thanks to advanced appropriations, although it would close regional offices and pause some services, including some cemetery operations. The U.S. Army and Navy said they would only provide “limited updates” during the shutdown, while the Air Force and Space Force said their websites were “not being updated.” Some services that have permanent funding also continue to run. Social Security benefits, for example, are considered mandatory by law and continue, although some services may be delayed if some workers are furloughed. Medicare, which is housed under the Department of Health and Human Services, will also continue, as will services related to pandemic, flu, and hurricane response. HHS said it expects to furlough around 32,500 of its 80,000-person workforce if the shutdown continues. The National Institutes of Health will also continue ongoing research and clinical services deemed essential but has paused issuance of new contracts and grants to external organizations, as well as training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and the admission of new patients to its research hospital unless deemed medically necessary. Read More: When Was the Last Government Shutdown in the U.S.? Air traffic control services also continue, although Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday said there has been a “slight tick up in sick calls” from air traffic controllers in some places, noting that that could lead to delays. “If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” Duffy said, adding that funding from a government program that subsidizes commercial air service to rural airports could stop as soon as Sunday. Workers deemed non-essential are often furloughed, affecting the National Parks Service, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. Furloughed workers typically return to their jobs once a government shutdown ends, although the Trump Administration has floated permanent staffing cuts. Who gets paid? The President and members of Congress continue to get paid during a shutdown, as outlined in the Constitution. Congressional offices, similar to agencies, must decide which of their staffers are considered essential and required to keep working. Most other federal workers, however, do not get paid, even if they are deemed essential and required to work. All federal employees who are not paid during the shutdown, whether they were furloughed or remained working, are entitled by law to back pay once the shutdown ends. Both furloughed and essential workers receive back pay “at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates,” according to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. Some workers, whose programs have alternative funding sources, continue to be paid on time. These include postal workers, because the U.S. Postal Service is considered an “independent establishment of the executive branch” and is largely funded by its own revenue, as opposed to being funded by congressional appropriations. What about contracted workers? Over a million private sector workers on federal grants and contracts could also be affected by the shutdown, according to the Professional Services Council, the national trade association for government technology and professional services. The think-tank Brookings Institution offers a more glaring estimate of over seven million Americans whose work is directly supported by federal contracts or grants. Businesses supported by fully funded federal contracts may continue to be paid during the shutdown, but may face some delays in having their invoices processed. In other cases, however, federal agencies can choose to terminate contracts that aren’t fully funded or are incrementally funded, and contracted workers are not guaranteed back pay. Can furloughed workers be fired? The Trump Administration has repeatedly floated permanent cuts to furloughed workers. The Office of Management and Budget suggested in a September memo that agencies should consider laying off workers for programs whose funding has expired due to the shutdown, that do not have alternative funding sources, and that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned last week that layoffs were “imminent.” On Thursday, Trump said he and OMB Director Russel Vought, who co-authored conservative policy plan Project 2025, would meet to decide which “Democrat Agencies” should be cut and “whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.” A group of federal employee unions filed a lawsuit shortly before the shutdown, arguing that the Trump Administration’s plan to fire federal workers during the shutdown is illegal.  “These actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious, and the cynical use of federal employees as a pawn in Congressional deliberations should be declared unlawful and enjoined by this Court,” the lawsuit said. This week, the White House appeared to backtrack on its most acute threats. Leavitt said on Monday that Trump’s claim that workers were already being fired was in reference to “hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed” but have not yet been fired. “Of course,” she added, “the Office of Management and Budget is continuing to work with agencies on who, unfortunately, is going to have to be laid off if this shutdown continues.”