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.
AgencyTotal
employeesPlanned
furloughsShare
Environmental Protection Agency
15,16613,43289%2,4472,11787%42,98434,71181%12,9169,79276%6,1054,35971%26,99516,65162%13,8128,10559%58,61930,99653%85,90742,25649%
Defense (civilian workforce)
741,477334,90445%
Health and Human Services
79,71732,46041%
Small Business Administration
6,2011,45623%53,71712,21323%51,8256,19712%115,13112,84011%
Office of Personnel Management
2,00721010%271,92714,1845%461,49914,8743%81,1651,7362%
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 Furloughed 49% 42,256 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, although payments could be disrupted later in the yearNutrition programs for women and children, though new applicants may be turned awayWildfire responseInspections of meat, poultry and egg productsAnimal and plant health programs related to diseases like bird flu Access to remote recreational sitesNon-essential research and data collectionHazardous fuel treatments, including prescribed fires Work with pay 4% 1,810 Work with no pay 15% 6,463 Furloughed 81% 34,711 Weather forecasts and warnings to the public of hazardous weather conditionsVarious maritime activities, including fishery monitoring, water level monitoring for ships entering U.S. ports and updates to nautical chartsPatent processing and approval, as long as reserve funds are available Most activities at the Census Bureau, like survey collection or the production of monthly reportsMost research activities across the department Work with pay 25% 182,684 Work with no pay 30% 223,889 Furloughed 45% 334,904 Military operations, but troops will work without pay during the shutdownRecruiting and training operations Continues to work 13% 330 Furloughed 87% 2,117 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 Furloughed 59% 8,105 Maintenance, development and safeguarding of nuclear weapons stockpileSome functions at regional grid operators Work with pay 5% 828 Work with no pay 6% 906 Furloughed 89% 13,432 Emergency and disaster assistanceProtection of E.P.A. land, buildings and equipmentPreservation of ongoing experimentsCleanup of Superfund sites that pose “an imminent threat to human life” Issuance of new permits, guidance, regulations or grantsCleanup of Superfund sites where the E.P.A. has determined there is “no imminent threat to human health and property” Work with pay 44% 35,096 Work with no pay 15% 12,161 Furloughed 41% 32,460 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 hospitalOutbreak responseThe 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 medicationsEfforts to eliminate problematic food chemicals and replace them with safer alternativesRoutine inspections of food and medication facilitiesIssuance of new N.I.H. grants and basic research conducted by N.I.H. scientistsAdmittance of new patients at the N.I.H. hospitalC.D.C. communications to the public and guidance to state and local health departments on public health mattersF.D.A. approval of some new drug and medical device applications Work with pay 16% 44,466 Work with no pay 78% 213,277 Furloughed 5% 14,184 Work from immigration, border and customs agents, including most of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 20,000 employeesFEMA disaster responseCustoms enforcement on imports, including the collection of tariffsCitizenship and green card applications, although delays could occurDuties of Transportation Security Administration airport screeners (who will continue to work without pay) Work with pay 2% 143 Work with no pay 26% 1,603 Furloughed 71% 4,359 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 Furloughed 53% 30,996 Access to some national parks, but some services may be unavailableInspections of oil and gas and logging operations Public access to some wildlife refugesMost 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 Furloughed 11% 12,840 Criminal litigationWork 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 AdministrationMaintenance of federal prisons, including medical care of inmates Most civil litigationMost training of state and local officers Work with pay 4% 564 Work with no pay 20% 2,560 Furloughed 76% 9,792 Mandated inspections and investigations of minesUnemployment insurance benefits Data releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces monthly jobs dataInspections 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 Furloughed 23% 1,456 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 Furloughed 12% 6,197 Continues to work 38% 10,344 Furloughed 62% 16,651 Visa and passport processingU.S. embassies and consulates abroad Most new grants and contracts Work with pay 22% 11,980 Work with no pay 55% 29,524 Furloughed 23% 12,213 Work with pay 97% 78,793 Work with no pay <1% 636 Furloughed 2% 1,736 Duties of the Internal Revenue Service, for at least the first five business days of the shutdownEconomic 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 Furloughed 3% 14,874 Veteran medical care, homelessness programs and the Veterans Crisis LinePension, housing and other benefits for veterans Assistance for veterans transitioning to civilian life
Methodology
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.