what agencies are affected by government sh...

February 15, 2026

A partial federal government shutdown is underway in early 2026, and it is affecting some major agencies while others remain fully funded and operating normally.

Key point: Which agencies are affected?

The current shutdown is partial , meaning only agencies whose annual funding bills have not passed are directly hit.

Agencies and departments whose funding has lapsed (i.e., affected by the shutdown) include:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, and other sub‑agencies
Department of Defense (Pentagon)
Department of State
Department of Labor
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – with many sub‑agencies like HRSA, SAMHSA, etc. listed as impacted

Department of Education
Department of Transportation (USDOT)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Department of the Treasury, including the IRS and other Treasury sub‑offices

Various independent regulatory agencies (e.g., SEC, FTC, FCC, CFTC, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal Election Commission, some Social Security Administration operations) as union summaries describe them as impacted by FY 2026 funding gaps.

In these agencies:

“Essential” employees (like certain military personnel, air traffic controllers, border agents, and key safety staff) generally continue working without immediate pay.

“Non‑essential” employees are furloughed, meaning they are temporarily sent home without pay until funding is restored.

Which agencies are not affected?

Several agencies already have full-year funding through separate spending bills, so they are not part of this shutdown and operate largely as normal.

Major agencies that are funded through September and thus insulated from the current shutdown include:

Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of Agriculture
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Department of Commerce
Department of Justice
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Department of Energy
Department of the Interior
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Legislative branch operations (Congress and its support agencies)

Even in these funded agencies, some indirect effects can still ripple through (e.g., interagency projects slowing down), but they are not in shutdown status themselves.

How services are being hit on the ground

Different agencies experience the shutdown in different ways:

DHS and Transportation: Security screening and air traffic control continue, but support staff and some training or administrative functions may be delayed.
Defense: Active‑duty military keep working, but some civilian workers may be furloughed, and non‑urgent projects can pause.
HHS, Education, Labor, HUD: Grants, new program activity, and some customer service operations can slow or stop, while core safety or legally required functions continue.
Treasury / IRS: Tax processing continues in a limited way, but customer service, audits, and non‑urgent work can be curtailed, especially if the shutdown drags on.

As an example, FEMA (inside DHS) is still able to respond to emergencies and had several billion dollars in its disaster fund going into the shutdown, but a prolonged funding gap would strain these reserves, especially if new disasters occur.

Quick HTML table: Affected vs. funded

Because your instructions ask for tables in HTML, here is a compact view:

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Agency / Department</th>
      <th>Status in 2026 partial shutdown</th>
      <th>Notes</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of Homeland Security (DHS)</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Includes FEMA, CBP; essential staff work without immediate pay.[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of Defense (Pentagon)</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Active‑duty troops work, some civilians furloughed.[web:1][web:3][web:4]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of State</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Funding lapsed; non‑essential operations scaled back.[web:1][web:2]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of Labor</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Some enforcement and grant activities delayed.[web:1][web:2]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>HHS (many components)</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Multiple sub‑agencies listed by unions as impacted.[web:1][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of Education</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Program administration and grant processing can slow.[web:1][web:2]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Department of Transportation</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>USDOT funding lapsed; air traffic control remains essential.[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>HUD</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Some housing program support is at risk of delay.[web:1][web:2]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Treasury &amp; IRS</td>
      <td>Affected</td>
      <td>Operations trimmed; essential financial functions continue.[web:1][web:2][web:7][web:10]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>VA</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Shielded by earlier full‑year funding; minimal direct impact.[web:1][web:4]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>USDA</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Covered by enacted appropriations bill.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>FDA</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Explicitly funded even though broader HHS is affected.[web:1][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Commerce</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Insulated from this shutdown by prior legislation.[web:1][web:4]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Justice (DOJ)</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Operations continue; some indirect effects possible.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>NASA</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Covered under prior spending bill.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>NSF</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Research programs continue under existing appropriations.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Energy</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Shielded by previous funding law.[web:1][web:4]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Interior</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>National parks &amp; related operations funded, though individual policies vary.[web:1][web:6]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>EPA</td>
      <td>Funded</td>
      <td>Operating under full‑year appropriations.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.