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Which federal agencies and services are most affected during a US government shutdown?
Executive summary
Federal shutdowns force agencies to stop non‑essential work and furlough many employees; in recent shutdowns hundreds of thousands of workers were furloughed or worked without pay, while critical safety and mandatory programs generally continue (for example, an estimated 380,000 furloughed and another 420,000 who worked without pay in 2018–19) [1]. Agencies repeatedly singled out by reporting as heavily affected include the IRS, Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development, parts of the Department of Agriculture (SNAP/child nutrition), and portions of the Department of Homeland Security and transportation oversight — while military functions, Social Security and the U.S. Postal Service are typically treated differently because of law or funding status [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What “most affected” means: payroll, services, and capacity
A shutdown’s impact shows up in three ways: furloughs and missed paychecks for civilian staff; suspension or slowdown of agency services that rely on annual appropriations; and diminished capacity for routine, non‑emergency projects. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and other reporting note that shutdowns force agencies to stop non‑critical activities under the Antideficiency Act, complicating hiring and planning and producing both furloughs and employees working without immediate pay [5] [1].
2. Agencies that typically see the biggest staff disruptions
Large agencies funded by annual appropriations have historically reported the most furloughs and missed pay. In prior shutdowns, the IRS and State Department recalled increasing numbers of employees as budgets and priorities shifted; the Department of Education, Census and Housing and Urban Development were explicitly reported as having hundreds of staff paused or affected during recent 2025 actions [1] [2] [4]. Estimates from watchdogs and newsrooms put potential daily furloughs in the hundreds of thousands (CBO and PBS reporting cited by PBS) [3] [1].
3. Programs that continue versus those that stall
Not all programs stop. Mandatory programs or those funded outside annual appropriations — Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid payments in many circumstances, and the Postal Service — are generally continued or treated differently; nevertheless, agency communications and constituent services can be harder to access because staff are furloughed [6] [7]. By contrast, discretionary services like some grant programs, processing of tax refunds, certain visa and immigration processing steps, and nutrition program administration can be delayed or suspended [8] [1] [2].
4. Food assistance, schools and health services are frequent flashpoints
The Department of Agriculture’s SNAP decisions and child nutrition programs recur as high‑visibility disruptions. During recent 2025 coverage, USDA actions and the potential for halted SNAP issuance affected millions and prompted intense reporting and legal back‑and‑forth; Head Start grant disruptions and delays in heating assistance (LIHEAP) were reported to take weeks to normalize even after funding resumed [2] [9] [10].
5. Transportation, aviation and emergency response: essential but strained
Air traffic control and FEMA emergency response are considered excepted for safety, so they continue, but capacity and long‑term projects suffer. PBS and BBC reporting flagged impacts on air travel capacity and FAA staffing decisions; FEMA remains available for emergencies but non‑emergency disaster recovery projects can be delayed [3] [9] [8].
6. The military, veterans, and pay politics
Uniformed military continue to serve during shutdowns, but pay and administrative functions can be caught up in the budget fight: some reporting notes military pay historically has been continued by Congress in prior shutdowns, while other sources show servicemembers may be required to work without immediate pay until funding is restored [5] [4]. Veterans’ services can be disrupted if their administering agencies are affected by discretionary funding gaps [2] [11].
7. Who keeps getting paid — and who doesn’t
Members of Congress continue to be paid because their pay cannot be changed absent law; the Postal Service is self‑funded and continues operations; many essential functions remain staffed as “excepted” employees but often without immediate pay, producing morale and financial strain [12] [6] [4].
8. Political and administrative dynamics that amplify effects
Shutdown consequences depend on agency contingency plans, OMB guidance, and administration decisions about recalls or layoffs; in 2025 the White House and OMB actions — including directions about reduction‑in‑force notices and holding certain funds — shaped which agencies and projects paused or proceeded [5] [13]. Those moves can reflect political strategy as well as budget realities [11] [13].
9. Key limitations and what the sources do not say
Available sources document broad patterns and named agencies affected in specific 2025 coverage, but they do not provide a single ranked list of “most affected” agencies by metric (lost revenue, furloughed headcount, service interruptions) — that kind of ranking is not in the supplied reporting (not found in current reporting). Also, precise, up‑to‑the‑day numbers change daily during a shutdown and are presented in different ways across the cited pieces [2] [1] [4].
Takeaway: Shutdowns hit agencies in different ways — large discretionary‑funded departments (IRS, Education, HUD, USDA programs, parts of DHS and transportation oversight) typically show the clearest, most visible disruptions, while mandatory, self‑funded, or safety‑critical functions continue but may operate under strain and delayed reimbursements [1] [2] [3].