As of midnight on October 1, federal funding lapsed for most federal agencies, because they are not funded for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. While national defense and public safety agencies like the U.S. military and the Transportation Security Agency may be serving (without pay), other federal agencies will face restricted operations.
Based on the plans that were released by the federal agencies, here is a summary of the effects of the federal government shutdown on various agencies:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
FEMA estimates that almost 21,000 of its nearly 25,000 employees will be considered exempt/excepted and are estimated to be retained on duty. Disaster payments are considered exempt/excepted activities and should continue to be processed. The National Fire Academy is closed for the duration of the shutdown.
If a grant award is fully funded, the Department of Homeland Security guidance says that awardees may continue to perform the grants. However, they will not be reimbursed until FEMA operations are fully funded.
In a case where the terms of a grant require prior approval or coordination before the grantee proceeds, a furloughed federal employee will not be able to provide the required approval or coordination. The awardees’ work on the grant must cease until the required approvals or coordination take place.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS will largely remain open and operational. CMS payments and benefits will continue with stable funding for benefits through the end of the first quarter of FY 2026. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and fraud & abuse investigation programs will continue. Surveys and certifications of healthcare facilities will pause, and all new rulemaking processes will be paused. Roughly half of the staff will remain working during a shutdown.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The CDC will see large-scale closures during the shutdown. The WTC Health Program will continue to operate using mandatory spending. Some emergency prevention and response programs will continue, but most research will pause. With the exception of the WTC Health Program, the remainder of the fire service priority offices within NIOSH will be closed. Only about 35% of CDC staff will remain working during the shutdown.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Much of SAMHSA’s grant program staff will be furloughed during a shutdown. Grants that have already been approved and have already had funds awarded will continue to be available. The contingency plan currently uses the commissioned officers of the Public Health Service assigned to SAMHSA to continue to disperse the available funds already approved. Future grants are likely to be affected and could be severely affected by a shutdown lasting longer than 30 days. Responses to grant requests and Notices Of Funding Opportunities will be delayed during the shutdown and new deadlines or guidance may need to be issued if the shutdown lasts longer than 30 days. Only about 13% of the SAMHSA staff are expected to continue to work during a shutdown.
Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
ASPR’s monitoring and disaster response capabilities will continue to operate in the event of a shutdown, and the Secretary’s Operations Center will continue to be staffed. Scheduled drills and strategic and emergency planning efforts will be paused. Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and other emergency response entities will continue to be available for deployment in the event of a disaster during the shutdown. Approximately 70% of the staff of ASPR will continue to work during a shutdown with the majority of those being employees working on projects without funding issues in the event of a shutdown.
U.S. Department of Commerce
Federal FirstNet Authority
The federal FirstNet Authority will not be impacted by the federal government shutdown. It is not funded through federal appropriations.
U.S. Department of Justice
Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program (PSOB)
The PSOB program is funded through mandatory spending and should operate during the shutdown. However, the Office of Justice Programs only plans on retaining 41 of 796 staff during the shutdown.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service plans to furlough 12,744 of 32,390 employees. It plans to retain 15,644 employees for functions necessary to protect life and property, including responding to and preparing for wildland fires. It warns that hazardous fuels treatments, including prescribed fires, would be reduced. State grants for forest management and wildland fire preparedness may be delayed. In addition, state and local fire departments’ ability to train firefighters and acquire necessary equipment may be delayed and states and other cooperators will not receive reimbursement for ongoing forest management work on non-federal lands.
U.S. Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
According to BLM, an estimated 3,300 fire management staff are designated as exempt based upon the availability of carryover balances in the Wildland Fire Management (WFM) account. This exempt category includes personnel performing wildfire preparedness, suppression, post-fire response, fuels management, firefighter recruiting, hiring, and training. Once these WFM account carryover balances are exhausted, an estimated 1,000 fire personnel would continue to work on necessary preparedness and suppression activities for purposes of protecting life and property, as well as assisting with emergency services, and they would become designated as excepted personnel.
Responsibilities of fire management staff include initial attack and extended attack suppression activities on public lands and lands for which BLM has initial attack responsibilities through agreements; post fire response to prevent land degradation and damage to communities; fuels reduction activities to prevent catastrophic fire; procurement of critical firefighting aerial and ground based assets; and recruitment, training and hiring of firefighters. BLM states and districts will retain as necessary, depending upon the local conditions, fire personnel sufficient for initial attack capability. Additionally, this will include necessary dispatch personnel, the minimum overhead personnel and administrative staff to oversee suppression activities and coordinate supplementation of suppression staff as needed. BLM’s National Fire and Aviation office will ensure adequate personnel are available to support any ongoing needs of the states and districts.
U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
PHMSA says that it intends to furlough 190 of 579 employees. It will continue many of its current functions including:
- Pipeline Safety activities funded by other than annual appropriations.
- Investigations of hazardous materials accidents to determine the causes and circumstances of failure, the need for corrective action, and any non-compliance that might have contributed to the accident.
- Inspections of hazardous materials shippers, carriers, testing facilities and cylinder reconditioning facilities to detect and remediate safety concerns and determine compliance with the hazardous materials safety regulations.
- Enforcement of the hazardous materials safety regulations through the issuance of enforcement actions or development of evidence for civil and criminal penalty actions and other authorized enforcement activities, to the extent necessary to address imminent hazards to the safety of human life and the protection of property.
- Hazardous Materials approvals and permits only for emergencies that imminently threaten the safety of human life and the protection of property.
PHMSA has indicated that it will cease the following activities during the lapse:
- Hazardous materials grants benefitting emergency first responders and localities that would be funded from new registration fee collections
- Hazardous Materials registration program and registration fee collections.
- Hazardous Materials Program Development
- Hazardous Materials Standards and Rulemaking
- Hazardous Materials Engineering and Research
- Hazardous Materials Approvals and Permits (except for emergencies)
- Materials Outreach, Training and Grants (except for intermittent support to make timely payments to grantees)
- Hazardous Materials Special Investigations
- Hazardous Materials Training and Qualifications
- Except where funded by other than annual appropriations:
- Emergency Response Planning and Drills
- Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation
The IAFC will keep you informed with updates regarding the shutdown of federal programs and the negotiations around the FY 2026 appropriations.