Impending Government Shutdown: Key Services and Operations at Risk

As the federal government approaches a potential shutdown due to Congress's failure to pass a funding bill by the end of Tuesday, several essential services and operations face significant disruptions.

Military personnel, including active-duty service members and active guard reserves, are required to continue their duties without pay during a shutdown. New orders may be restricted to extenuating circumstances such as disaster response or national security. Some National Guard members funded federally could see their orders terminated unless performing essential duties. The Department of Veterans Affairs anticipates that 97% of its employees will work, though regional offices will be closed. Certain death benefits, including the placement of permanent headstones at VA cemeteries, and ground maintenance will cease. Communication lines, including hotlines, emails, social media, and responses to press inquiries, will also be affected.

Air traffic control services will continue, with 13,227 air traffic controllers working without pay until government funding is restored. Essential activities such as the certification and oversight of commercial airplanes and engines will persist, along with limited air traffic safety oversight. However, the Department of Transportation will halt air traffic controller hiring, field training, facility security inspections, and law enforcement assistance support. A coalition of aviation groups has urged Congress to prevent the shutdown, citing potential backlogs and delays in critical Federal Aviation Administration services. They emphasized that while air traffic controllers and other aviation safety professionals will continue to work without pay, many supporting employees will be furloughed, and programs used to review and address safety events will be suspended.

Social Security benefits, considered mandatory under law, will continue regardless of a shutdown, ensuring recipients receive their payments. However, the Social Security Administration may face a furloughed workforce, potentially delaying the processing of new applications.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), overseeing agencies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration, expects more than 32,000 of its nearly 80,000 workers to be furloughed. HHS stated that "excepted activities" will continue, including responses to pandemics, flu, and hurricanes. The National Institutes of Health will maintain research and clinical services necessary to protect human life and government property. However, research contracts and grants to external organizations will freeze, and NIH will not admit new patients to its research hospital unless medically necessary. HHS will also suspend processing Freedom of Information Act requests during a shutdown.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will continue exempt activities, including drug and medical device reviews and recalls, monitoring and response to foodborne illnesses and the flu, pursuing certain investigations when public risk is identified, and screening imported food and medical products. However, the FDA will cease monitoring the use of new ingredients in animal food, affecting the safety of meat, milk, and eggs from livestock. Long-term food safety initiatives will also be halted. The FDA will not process new drug applications and medical device submissions, and support staff overseeing the protection of unsafe or ineffective drugs will be unavailable unless an imminent threat exists.

The Department of Education will continue disbursing student aid through Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student Loans, assisting nearly 10 million students at 5,400 schools. Borrowers are still required to make loan payments during a shutdown. In the first week of a government shutdown, the department will furlough about 95% of staff not working on federal student aid and halt new grant-making activities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will continue monitoring and responding to disease outbreaks but will be limited in providing public health information. The agency will not offer guidance to state and local health departments on issues like preventing opioid overdoses, HIV, and diabetes. Responses to public health inquiries and analysis of surveillance data for certain diseases will also be suspended. Approximately one-third of the staff at the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will continue working during a shutdown.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) could be affected by a shutdown. The Department of Agriculture has indicated that SNAP benefits are funded for roughly one month during a shutdown, but a longer duration could deplete this funding. While detailed guidance has not been released, the department's previous shutdown contingency plan stated that SNAP, WIC, and similar programs would continue during a shutdown "subject to the availability of funding."

The National Park Service has not issued new shutdown guidance, but previous plans indicated that parks will generally be closed during a funding lapse. The agency discouraged visits to sites that remain physically accessible during a closure, noting significantly reduced visitor services. Regular updates on road or trail conditions, as well as website and social media maintenance, will not be provided. In past shutdowns, the National Park Service planned to reduce its nearly 20,000 personnel by about a third.

The Smithsonian Institution's museums and National Zoo, major attractions in Washington, D.C., have announced they will use funds from the previous year to remain open to the public at least through October 6.

Federal workers will largely not be paid during a shutdown. Employees considered essential must still report to work without pay until the government reopens. Both furloughed and essential employees will receive back pay after a shutdown ends.