The White House is moving forward with plans to furlough approximately a third of its staff as the deadline to approve a spending plan for the federal government passed without resolution, triggering a government shutdown.
The Executive Office of the President (EOP) released its updated Contingency Plan for Shutdown Furlough on Thursday, outlining that an estimated 554 of its 1,733 staff would be placed on furlough status. The action comes as Democrats continue to block approval of a spending plan to fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2026.
The document, addressed to Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, confirms the EOP’s strategy to prioritize core functions, largely shielding the administration’s central political operations while other agencies within the EOP take a significant hit.
According to the plan, 1,179 EOP staff members—roughly 68%—will continue to report to duty. This “Excepted Staff” includes those performing emergency or legally excepted functions, Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed (PAS) staff, those otherwise exempt from the Antideficiency Act, or those with alternative funding.
The breakdown reveals a clear prioritization of the White House’s most politically sensitive components:
- White House Office (WHO): This core political operation will furlough 198 employees but retain 175, ensuring the President’s closest advisors and support staff remain on the job.
- Office of the Vice President (OVP): The OVP will retain 15 staff members and furlough only 3, a minimal reduction.
- National Security Council (NSC): Crucial for foreign relations and national security, the NSC will retain 30 staff members while furloughing only one, ensuring continuity in national defense.
In contrast, other EOP components face more drastic cuts. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which plays a central role in government funding and regulatory review, will retain 437 staff but will still furlough 93. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) faces one of the largest proportional furloughs, retaining only 8 staff members while 48 are furloughed.
The Contingency Plan states that the retained staff are “necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duties and powers,” including supporting the President’s conduct of foreign relations, advancing national security, and coordinating legislative proposals.
Significant agency activities that will cease during the lapse are described as any statutory or regulatory responsibilities that “do not implicate the President or Vice President’s constitutional responsibilities.”
Non-Excepted Staff were instructed to report on Wednesday, October 1, for no longer than four hours to complete “orderly shutdown procedures” before being placed on furlough. The shutdown takes effect as Congressional leaders failed to pass either a full appropriations bill or a Continuing Resolution (CR) by the September 30 deadline.
The standoff places immediate pressure on the approximately 554 EOP staff now without a paycheck and on the various federal agencies whose services are curtailed, all while the White House insists on maintaining a robust capacity for its core political and national security agenda.
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