Even before most federal agencies had shared their plans for a possible government shutdown this week, the White House delivered a message that resonated across the bureaucracy: a funding lapse could be used as an opportunity for even more layoffs.
With days left before the government runs out of money at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, federal workers were grappling with a deepening sense of uncertainty about the ramifications if congressional leaders cannot come to an agreement over the budget.
Agencies have been slow to to post their contingency plans for how they would operate. And the threat issued by the White House that the administration would use a shutdown to fire more workers has fueled even more anxiety across the federal work force, already stretched thin by the administration’s mass terminations and cuts.
Around 300,000 employees are set to be off the payroll by the end of the year. The federal workers who remain are now facing the prospect of going without pay for an indefinite period — or possibly even losing their jobs.
Shutdowns are always bad for the country, causing disruption in government services and testing economic stability, said Michael Linden, a senior policy fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Health, a liberal think tank focused on inequality. But this one could be even worse than in the past, he warned, including the longest government shutdown to date, which occurred during the first Trump administration.
“This administration is throwing more uncertainty and more threats of pain, of deliberate pain, which is quite unusual,” said Mr. Linden, who worked at the Office of Management and Budget during the Biden administration. “It’s even unusual compared to the last time they were in office.”
Sharing shutdown plans publicly is helpful for businesses, state governments and everyone else who interacts with the federal government to offer a general sense of what to expect, he noted.
“But to not have any plans at all has created even more uncertainty, and really conveys, I think, a sense of like, ‘We don’t care how the public feels about this,’” Mr. Linden added.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Not every federal worker would be sent home in a shutdown. Those designated as essential to protecting life and property — including law enforcement — must keep working, albeit usually without pay. Other employees are furloughed.
As a possible shutdown nears, federal workers described feeling deeply demoralized — and worried a funding lapse could be used to further shrink the government.
“It’s just re-traumatizing folks who have been waiting for their jobs to get cut, because they understand the administration does not believe that federal employees are important,” said Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who is representing many of the workers who lost their jobs this year.
During the last shutdown, which started on Dec. 22, 2018, and lasted for 35 days, not every federal agency was affected. Congress had already passed spending legislation to fund the military, Veterans Affairs, the Postal Service and programs like Social Security and Medicaid, while money ran out for others that lawmakers could not agree on. This year, none of the 12 appropriations bills have passed both chambers.
That means active-duty members of the military would be among those working without pay this year. Federally funded child care would be interrupted in some parts of the country if a shutdown stretched into days or weeks. Federal grocery vouchers for low-income mothers and children would be unavailable if the funding lapse exceeded seven days.
Social Security and Medicare checks would continue to go out, but benefits would not be verified and new cards would not be issued, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
At the Environmental Protection Agency, biologists, toxicologists and federal inspectors of chemical facilities and drinking water systems are typically not considered essential. If there is a toxic chemical spill or other emergency, the E.P.A. would recall necessary staff, according to Justin Chen, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents many E.P.A. employees. But because of the staff cuts and resignations this year, the pool of employees available to call in is much smaller.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency would be in a similar situation if a major storm struck the United States during a shutdown. The agency would take longer to help affected communities because fewer employees would be available to respond compared to past shutdowns, according to six FEMA employees.
Conservationists and supporters of the country’s national parks are concerned that the Trump administration will insist that parks stay open during a shutdown, as it did the last time. Because so many employees were furloughed in 2018, many parks forced to remain open dealt with overflowing toilets, piles of trash and damage to fragile ecosystems. At California’s Joshua Tree National Park, some visitors illegally drove off-road vehicles through the desert and cut down the spiky-leafed Joshua trees for which the park is named.
Nearly 40 former park superintendents sent a letter Friday to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, imploring him to close the parks if the government shutters to avoid irreparable damage at a time when firings and resignations have already stretched staff.
The Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service, did not respond to questions about its plans for a shutdown. But two people briefed on the matter said the park service was aiming to minimize the impact of a shutdown on visitors, which could include keeping parks open.
During the last shutdown, the administration used funds from fee collections at parks that were designated for addressing postponed maintenance projects and improvements to facilities to cover routine maintenance and janitorial costs so that at least some trash was collected. The Government Accountability Office later determined that maneuver was an illegal use of funds.
The watchdog office also found the administration had illegally issued food vouchers ahead of schedule.
By law, federal employees are entitled to back pay when the government reopens, but that does not always come immediately. During the five weeks of the last shutdown, many workers struggled and had to take payday loans, said Doreen Greenwald, the national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 federal workers across 37 agencies.
“Nothing is gained through a shutdown,” she said. “It’s not just about federal employees. It’s about the federal employees delivering for the American people.”
Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow contributed reporting.
Eileen Sullivan is a Times reporter covering the changes to the federal work force under the Trump administration.
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