which agencies are shutdown

Several federal departments and agencies are partially shut down right now, but very few are completely dark; most are operating with reduced staff and limited services.

Big picture

• The 2026 shutdown is partial , not a full stop to the entire federal government.

• “Shutdown” usually means:
  • Many employees are furloughed (sent home without pay).
  • Only “excepted” (legally essential) work continues.
  • Public‑facing services slow down, pause, or get big backlogs.

• Safety‑critical and benefit‑payment operations usually keep going, even during a shutdown (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security checks, air traffic control, TSA).

Agencies and departments most affected

These are the areas repeatedly flagged as heavily exposed or with major service interruptions in the recent shutdowns of 2025 and the ongoing 2026 fight:

• Health & research agencies
  • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has had large furloughs; the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and parts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have seen research, grant processing, and some public‑facing work slowed or paused.

* Many CDC programs not tied to immediate life‑and‑death work have been scaled back in prior shutdown phases, especially in infectious disease and support services.

• Science & space
  • NASA has furloughed the bulk of its civil servants in shutdown plans, with only mission‑critical work (ISS operations, active satellites, Artemis program) continuing.

• Economic and business‑facing agencies
  • Small Business Administration (SBA): loan processing and some support programs slow or pause during funding gaps.

* Department of Commerce and related economic/statistical functions can see significant cutbacks, delaying data releases and grant/program administration.

• Transportation and infrastructure
  • Department of Transportation: many staff furloughed, but safety‑critical work (like air traffic control and key FAA operations) continues.

• Justice and administration
  • Department of Justice: a minority of employees furloughed, with core law‑enforcement and national‑security work still running.

* Office of Personnel Management and General Services Administration: reduced staffing hits HR, contracting, and building support functions.

• Other cabinet‑level departments listed as “at risk”
  • Defense, Labor, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, and Homeland Security have all been cited as “most exposed” under the current expiring funding packages; in practice, many mission‑critical operations continue but with growing furloughs and delayed services if the shutdown drags on.

In Reddit‑style discussions from federal workers during the 2025 shutdown, many describe a patchwork reality: some divisions nearly normal, others ghost towns, with communication rules tightening and lots of confusion about what counts as “essential.”

What is not shut down (or only lightly hit)

Even in the current 2026 situation, several major pieces of the government are explicitly listed as not fully shut down and continue core services:

• Social Security Administration – benefit payments (retirement, disability) continue, though field offices and customer service can be slower.

• Medicare, Medicaid, and disability benefits – payments continue; some administrative work may slow.

• Veterans’ benefits and VA health care – core benefits and medical care generally remain funded and operating.

• U.S. Postal Service – keeps delivering mail; it is self‑funding and not closed by a standard federal shutdown.

• Many DHS frontline functions – TSA screeners, Border Patrol, and other security staff typically keep working without pay rather than shutting down.

Fully “shut down” vs. “partially operating”

A key nuance: when people ask “which agencies are shutdown,” they often imagine entire departments padlocked; in reality, most are in one of these states:

• “Minimal staff only” – core safety, security, or statutory roles keep going; everything else stops.
• “Skeleton crew and slow service” – applications, permits, grants, regulatory reviews, and customer support queue up.
• “Reorganized or dismantling” – separate from a shutdown, some agencies are being structurally shrunk, merged, or effectively hollowed out (e.g., Education off‑loading operations, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scaling down, parts of VA being overhauled).

Past “shutdown” or reorganization lists also include fully defunct agencies (like the Office of Technology Assessment or Farmers Home Administration), but those are historical restructurings, not part of the current 2026 shutdown.

How to check your specific agency right now

Because the situation can change week by week and even office by office, the most reliable steps are:

1. Go to your agency’s official website or social media and look for “operations during shutdown,” “contingency plan,” or “lapse in appropriations” notices; agencies must publish updated plans explaining what is running and what is halted.

2. Check your member of Congress’s “shutdown resources” page (many, like Rep. Dina Titus, maintain live lists of which departments and services are currently impacted or not).

3. If you are a federal employee, look for internal emails or intranet posts summarizing:
   • Who is excepted vs. furloughed.
   • Which tasks are allowed or prohibited during the funding lapse.

In forum discussions, employees frequently report that even within one department, some components feel fully shut down while others are overloaded because they are deemed essential.

TL;DR: Right now, a cluster of major departments (HHS, NIH, CDC, NASA, SBA, parts of Transportation, Justice, and others) are in partial shutdown mode with many staff furloughed and non‑essential services paused, while core benefit programs (Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, veterans’ benefits) and USPS continue operating.