The government shutdown that began Wednesday morning suspended the work of hundreds of thousands of employees, disrupting a wide range of federal programs. Many more employees are required to report to work without pay until funding is restored.

AgencyTotal
employeesFurloughedShare

Environmental Protection Agency

15,166 13,432 89% 2,447 2,117 87% 42,984 34,711 81% 12,916 9,792 76% 6,105 4,359 71% 26,995 16,651 62% 58,619 30,996 53% 85,907 42,256 49%

Defense (civilian workforce)

741,477 334,904 45%

Health and Human Services

79,717 32,460 41%

Small Business Administration

6,201 1,456 23% 53,717 12,213 23% 51,825 6,197 12% 115,131 12,840 11%

Office of Personnel Management

2,007 210 10% 271,927 14,184 5% 461,499 14,874 3%

Sources: Official government agency websites

Note: 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.

The impacts vary from department to department. Some services and programs will continue mostly uninterrupted if they are self-funded or considered “mandatory”, such as the Postal Service and Social Security benefits. Departments also designated some employees, such as federal law enforcement officers, active-duty troops and air traffic controllers, as “essential.” Many will work without pay while the shutdown persists.

Some shutdowns have ended after a few days, but this impasse is particularly contentious. President Trump on Tuesday doubled down on a threat to fire federal employees if funding lapses, and suggested he could leverage the shutdown to enact measures that are “bad” for Democrats.

Here is a look at some of the activities and programs that will continue and some that have paused, at least for now, based on plans that federal agencies made public in recent days.

  • 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, and other nutrition programs for women and children
  • Wildfire response
  • 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
  • Furloughed 81% 34,711
  • 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
  • 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 shutdown
  • Recruiting 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 5% 828
  • Work with no pay 6% 906
  • Furloughed 89% 13,432
  • 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”
  • 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 hospital
  • Outbreak response
  • 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
  • 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. guidance to state and local health departments on public health matters, including opioid overdose prevention and diabetes prevention
  • 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
  • Furloughed 5% 14,184
  • Work from immigration, border and customs agents, including most of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 20,000 employees
  • FEMA disaster response
  • 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)
  • 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 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
  • Furloughed 11% 12,840
  • Criminal litigation
  • 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 civil litigation
  • Most 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 mines
  • Unemployment insurance benefits
  • 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
  • Furloughed 23% 1,456
  • Approval and disbursement of disaster loans
  • Processing of loan applications by the S.B.A.’s 7(a) and 504 loan guarantee programs, which back bank loans totaling more than $44 billion a year to tens of thousands of small companies
  • Work with pay 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 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
  • Furloughed 23% 12,213
  • 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 Line
  • Pension, housing and other benefits for veterans