Which federal job categories are most commonly designated excepted during shutdowns?
Executive summary
Excepted employees are those federal workers legally required to continue working through an appropriations lapse, usually without immediate pay; agencies most commonly designate jobs tied to national security, public safety and emergency response, law enforcement and border operations, and essential diplomatic and transportation functions as excepted (unpaid) during shutdowns [1] [2] [3]. Which positions are singled out varies by agency and by the particular scope of the lapse, because agency legal counsel and OMB/OPM guidance drive decisions case-by-case [4] [5].
1. What “excepted” actually means in practice
An “excepted” designation is not a claim to permanent pay or status but a legal classification that requires the employee to perform duties during a lapse in appropriations; those employees typically do not receive pay until Congress restores funding, unlike “exempt” employees whose salaries are funded outside annual appropriations and continue to be paid [1] [2] [6]. Federal guidance from agencies such as DHS and OPM instructs that excepted staff must report for duty to perform shutdown or mission‑critical activities and that agencies must minimize activities to what is necessary to protect life and property [3] [4].
2. National security and defense: the most consistently excepted categories
Positions tied to national defense and core national security functions are almost always excepted—this includes many Department of Defense civilian personnel supporting military operations and classified mission‑critical work, and nearly all military personnel who remain on duty under separate authorities [6] [7]. Legislative proposals and agency practice alike underscore that pay for those carrying out national security or critical military duties is a central exception, and Congress even considered legislation to explicitly fund excepted workers in such roles during shutdowns [7] [6].
3. Public safety, law enforcement, and border security
Law enforcement, prosecutors, federal prison staff, customs and border protection officers, and other public‑safety roles are routinely classified as excepted because an immediate cessation would threaten public safety; DHS and Justice Department frontline staff are typically kept on duty to protect life and property [3] [8]. Air traffic controllers and related aviation safety personnel are a clear example: they continue working through lapses because grounding or disrupting air traffic would be unsafe, a reality reflected in recent reporting on the 2026 lapse [9] [8].
4. Emergency response, public health and critical infrastructure
Emergency management and disaster response personnel—FEMA staff, certain HHS and VA clinicians tied to urgent care, and others supporting continuity of emergency services—are commonly excepted because their duties directly protect lives during crises [3] [8] [6]. Agencies’ internal shutdown resource pages explain that excepted employees who complete required orderly‑shutdown tasks in short order may then be furloughed, highlighting how operational judgment shapes who actually stays on the job [3].
5. Diplomatic, consular, and essential citizen services
Core diplomatic and consular functions—embassy operations, passport and visa processing deemed essential, and certain overseas safety work—are frequently classified as excepted to preserve U.S. presence and protect U.S. citizens abroad; recent memos from the State Department showed most direct‑hire consular staff exempted or excepted to keep embassies and basic consular services running [10] [9]. The exact set of consular activities that continue can still be narrowed (for example, some non‑emergency notifications or website updates may be curtailed), showing that “excepted” is not an all‑or‑nothing shield for every function [10].
6. Why variability matters and how decisions are made
Agencies do not apply a single national checklist; OMB instructions and OPM guidance require agency heads to identify the minimum workforce needed to protect life and property and to carry out inherently governmental functions, which produces variation across departments and across different shutdowns [4] [2] [5]. The result is predictable clusters—defense, law enforcement, emergency response, aviation safety, and core diplomatic services—but the precise employee list can change from one lapse to the next, and agencies often issue detailed memos to explain their determinations [10] [5].
7. The political and policy overlay
The pattern of who is excepted is not only administrative but political: lawmakers and advocacy groups debate whether excepted personnel should be paid during a shutdown (Congress considered bills to appropriate pay for excepted employees), and those debates influence perceptions and proposals about fairness and continuity of government [7] [11]. Independent analysts and agencies alike warn that while some categories are reliably excepted, the public impact and worker hardship depend on the length of a shutdown and the scope of which functions are sustained or suspended [11] [6].