By Bo Erickson, Courtney Rozen and Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s administration started detailing its plans on Monday for which services it will pause if the federal government shuts down this week, with the U.S. health department slated to furlough 41% of its workforce.
The impending shutdown will be different than past government closures because the administration has threatened mass firings of federal staff, adding that it could use the lapse in funding to downsize the federal government.
The Office of Personnel Management in a Monday memo said while training and onboarding of new federal employees is not allowed under the law dictating the parameters of a shutdown, the employees who oversee any firings are to continue their work. Unlike in past shutdowns, furloughed federal employees will also be allowed to use their government-issued computers to check for layoff notices in their email, according to OPM.
“This outrageous plan threatens to cause lasting damage to the country and the safety of the American people by mass firing nonpartisan, expert civil servants and potentially even eliminating government agencies,” Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees shutdown operations, said in a letter to the administration.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it will not admit new patients to its clinical research studies and limit health-related communications to the public if the government shuts down.
Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, and the minority Democrats have not reached an agreement on a stopgap funding bill to avert a Wednesday shutdown. Congressional leaders are set to meet with Trump on Monday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FIRING ALLOWED, TRAINING PROHIBITED
Shutdown operations are dictated by a 19th-century law that prohibits federal government operations in areas of the government where there is not approved federal funding from Congress. There are certain exceptions, as is the case for national security purposes and to protect life and property.
Crucial government benefits paid for by mandatory spending, like Social Security payments for senior citizens and healthcare access through Medicare and Medicaid, are not hit. Federal student loans and Pell grants for students in financial need also continue.
In previous years, the plans for how federal agencies would respond to a shutdown were made available to the public and to Congress weeks before a lapse of government funding, but many departments this year released their plans within the last 24 hours.
The Department of Labor said in its plan the Bureau of Labor Statistics “will suspend all operations” and that economic data scheduled during a funding lapse will not be released.
Some of the other publicly available plans are similar to previous shutdown plans from other administrations, however, the staffing data included shows the impact of the Trump administration’s layoffs, firings, and early retirement offerings. There are about 12,000 fewer full-time employees at the Health and Human Services Department compared with last year and about 1,700 fewer employees at the Education Department than in 2024, according to the plans.
The Veterans Affairs department said benefits and medical care would continue in the event of a shutdown, but maintenance at cemeteries would cease.
The Internal Revenue Service will continue full operations and staffing due to remaining supplemental funding signed into law by former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, a twist of advantage for the Trump administration despite Republican lawmakers criticizing the increased funding for tax enforcement and services.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
