Federal Managers Association

In the News

• Just 23% of fed workers would be furloughed if the government shuts down, under the Trump administration’s plan - October 1, 2025

• Several agencies plan to keep more employees working than usual, leading to fewer workers being sent home.

  Eric Katz, Government Executive

  The Trump administration is planning to furlough around 550,000 federal employees on Wednesday if Congress fails to act before government funding expires late Tuesday evening, representing an unusually low less than one-quarter of the workforce.

  The White House is also vowing to oversee large-scale layoffs if a government shutdown occurs, though that would play out through a separate process than the one that sends home certain employees only until funding is restored. In the last 15 years, administrations have typically prepared to furlough between 35% and 40% of the federal workforce. 

  The White House, through the Office of Management and Budget, maintains some latitude in the exact consequences of a shutdown. Federal employees funded through mechanisms other than annual appropriations, as well as those necessary to protect life and property, are considered either “exempted” or “excepted” and work throughout shutdowns on only the promise of backpay. The rest of employees are sent home on furlough without pay, though, following the record-setting 35-day shutdown in 2018 and 2019, those workers are now also guaranteed backpay. Different administrations have taken varying approaches in determining who gets furloughed and who works.

  To read the full article, click here.

##