The ongoing government shutdown, on track to become the longest funding lapse in U.S. history, is leading to staffing shortages at some agencies, given a rise in absences among federal employees expected to keep working without pay.
The Social Security Administration, in some cases, is keeping track of employee absences and limiting field office hours when staff are spread too thin. Much of SSA’s workforce is considered “excepted” and continues working without pay during a shutdown.
An SSA employee told Federal News Network that a field office in Port Angeles, Washington closed last Wednesday at noon, due to a staffing shortage. Last Thursday, a field office in Juneau, Alaska didn’t open until 2pm because of staffing issues.
These offices are currently open, according to a list of closures on SSA’s website. Other field offices in 12 states, however, were listed as not open for in-person services on Tuesday.
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An SSA spokesperson told Federal News Network that two field offices were closed Monday, “due to limited staffing,” and that one of them reopened for normal operations on Tuesday. SSA has more than 1,250 field offices across the country.
“Dedicated Social Security Administration employees continue to serve our nation’s seniors and most vulnerable populations during the Democrat government shutdown,” the spokesperson said.
The employee, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said their office has begun filling out a spreadsheet every morning to record the number of absences. Absences, they said, peaked at more than 20% last Friday, although the office is seeing about a 15% absence rate, on average, for most workdays.
A notice on SSA’s website states that, “during the federal government shutdown, local offices will have REDUCED in-person services.”
Meanwhile, airports across the U.S. are experiencing flight delays and cancellations amid staffing shortages. Employees at the Transportation Security Administration and air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration are working without pay during the shutdown, and have seen an increase in absences during the prolonged shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters in Philadelphia that air traffic controllers have already missed one full paycheck and received a partial paycheck during the government shutdown, and are on track to miss a second full paycheck next week.
“Many of the controllers said, ‘A lot of us can navigate missing one paycheck — not everybody, but a lot of us can. None of us can manage missing two paychecks,” Duffy said Tuesday.
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Duffy warned that “you will see mass chaos,” if air traffic controllers miss a second full paycheck, which would happen next Tuesday.
“You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it, because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” he said.
Short-staffing of air traffic controllers helped bring an end to a 35-day government shutdown in January 2019. Up until now, it was the longest shutdown on record. But the current funding lapse is on track to break that record, once it crosses the 36-day threshold on Wednesday. The Senate, for the 14th time, failed to pass a continuing resolution to fund the federal government in a vote on Tuesday.
Duffy said the performance of air traffic controllers in this shutdown has been “far better than the past shutdown.” But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association told reporters last month that air traffic controllers are taking second jobs, driving for Uber or making deliveries for DoorDash, on top of working 10-hour controller shifts six days a week.
“Make no mistake, the longer this goes on every day, these hard-working Americans have bills they have to pay, and they’re being forced to make decisions and choices,” Duffy said. “Do they go to work as an air traffic controller, or do they have to find a different job to get resources, money, to put food on their table, to put gas in their car? And as every day goes by, I think the problem is going to only get worse, not better.”
The shutdown is having an acute impact on staffing, but Duffy said the FAA will still be dealing with workforce shortages after the shutdown ends.
“We want the best and the brightest air traffic controllers,” Duffy said. “But these young people have a choice to make. Do they want to go into a profession where they can have a shutdown and they cannot be paid? That has affected our pipeline. And so long after you all stop reporting on this shutdown, I’m going to deal with the consequences and the commitments I’ve made to improve our pipeline,” he said.
Duffy said air traffic controller staffing is up 20% compared to last year, but stressed that the shutdown “will have an impact” on recruiting efforts.
Federal employees working without pay and furloughed workers who do not work during the shutdown typically receive back pay once the funding lapse ends. But the Office of Management has floated the possibility that furloughed workers are not automatically entitled to back pay.
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the administration is prepared to hold talks with congressional Democrats over back pay for federal employees.
“This is something we are very much open to discussing with Democrats as part of the discussions about the continuing resolution to keep the government open, and it’s something that Republicans are talking with Democrats about right now,” Leavitt said.
President Donald Trump signed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act in January 2019, which guarantees back pay to shutdown-impacted federal employees.
But a recent OMB memo suggests that lawmakers would have to include language in a stopgap spending bill or comprehensive spending deal for fiscal 2026, in order for furloughed federal employees to receive back pay.
Leavitt, however, said she didn’t “want to get in the middle of those sensitive conversations,” in response to follow-up questions.
“I won’t get ahead of those negotiations or discussions,” she said.
Last week, several agencies sent second furlough notices to employees that, unlike the first notice they received before the shutdown, made no mention of back pay once the shutdown ends.
Federal News Network received copies of notices sent to furloughed staff at the General Services Administration, the Interior Department and the Census Bureau.
A Sept. 30 furlough notice obtained by Federal News Network states that the “Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 provides that employees shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations after a shutdown ends.”
The Oct. 31 notice, however, makes no mention of the 2019 legislation or back pay, but directs employees to “return to work on your next regular duty day,” once the shutdown ends.
Furloughed employees at the Office of the National Director of Intelligence, however, received more assurance in their latest notice that they would be paid.
Republican lawmakers have pressed Democrats to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the federal government through Nov. 21, But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Tuesday that the Nov. 21 continuing resolution doesn’t give Congress enough time to reach a deal on a more comprehensive spending deal for the rest of fiscal 2026.
Johnson urged the Senate to vote first on a new continuing resolution with a new deadline, and that he would call the House back in session once the CR passes the Senate. The timeline for a new continuing resolution is unclear, but Johnson said he would oppose a CR that keeps the government funded through mid-December.
“A lot of people around here have PTSD about Christmas omnibus spending bills. It gets too close, and we don’t want to have that risk. We’re not doing that,” he said. “I think putting it into January makes sense, but we’ve got to obviously build consensus around that.”
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