The country is once again on the brink of a government shutdown — but this time, federal employees could see mass layoffs instead of furloughs if Congress can’t come to an agreement on a federal funding bill.
Federal employees numbered more than 153,000 in Illinois last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. Federal workers have already experienced massive upheaval due to cuts from President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year. Now, they could face potential firings if the government shuts down on Wednesday.
That number includes federal law enforcement and more than 22,000 active duty military members. Under a shutdown, all active duty service members and some law enforcement officers would remain at work but receive no pay until funds are appropriated.
Nonessential workers are typically furloughed until Congress approves government spending. But the Office of Management and Budget last week said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse this week, is not otherwise funded and is “not consistent with the President’s priorities,” the Associated Press reported. That’s code for another round of DOGE-like cuts that are putting federal workers on edge across the country.
On Sunday, Trump told NBC News, “We are going to cut a lot of the people that … we’re able to cut on a permanent basis.”
The Senate plans to bring a House bill to the floor to keep the government funded short-term, but Democrats have not signaled support. A meeting between congressional leaders and Trump on Monday did little to move the needle. Republicans want short-term funding, while Democrats want to see the extension of health care subsidies, an issue the GOP wants to negotiate separately.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Trump took the threat further, saying, “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them [Democrats]. Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
Asked whether a shutdown is inevitable, Trump said, “Nothing is inevitable, but I would say it’s probably likely.”
The longest government shutdown lasted 34 days from late 2018 into early 2019 — led by a stalemate between Trump and congressional Republicans over his request for a $5.7 billion border wall.
How many Illinois federal workers are at risk?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, an annual survey of roughly 3.5 million people, there were an estimated 33,025 federal employees in Chicago, 58,545 in Cook County — and a total of 153,020 employees in Illinois.
A 2024 Congressional Research Report counted 45,213 federal employees in Illinois but excluded U.S. Postal Service workers and most of the legislative and judicial branches, among others. It also counted workers “in the state or territory of their assigned duty stations,” whereas the census data counts all individuals indicating that they work for the federal government by their place of residence.
What’s the stance from Illinois Democrats?
Sen. Dick Durbin was criticized in March for supporting a measure to keep the government funded. He joined 10 Democrats, including Senate Majority Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, in advancing the Republican funding proposal to a final vote to avoid a shutdown. He ultimately voted no on the final measure.
But this time is different. Durbin and other Democrats are urging Republicans to come to the table and negotiate to extend Affordable Care Act premium tax credits as part of any bipartisan compromise to fund the government beyond Tuesday. With those tax credits set to expire, more than 4 million Americans will lose their health insurance coverage and 20 million more will face higher premiums.
“Let’s come together and fix this health care problem for America’s working families. The President on Fox News last week said ‘don’t even bother dealing with’ the Democrats. Well, the President’s wrong,” Durbin said in a statement. “We’re in this together, and we need to solve this problem together. If the government shuts down, it will be because of President Trump walking away from a major challenge facing working families.”
During a tele-town hall on Monday night, Sen. Tammy Duckworth criticized Trump for waiting to negotiate with Democrats “until the last second.” She also warned constituents about the ACA tax credits expiring.
“Another Trump shutdown wouldn’t just be needless and preventable — it would hurt millions of middle-class families who rely on government services and programs like Medicare and Social Security just to get by,” Duckworth said. “Democrats are fighting to stop costs from skyrocketing while also pushing back against Trump’s threats to deploy troops to Chicago.”
Will it affect my Social Security benefits?
Americans who collect Social Security will still receive their payments, but some customer service functions, including benefit verification, overpayment processing, Medicare replacement cards and Freedom of Information Act requests, among other services, would stop. In a contingency plan posted on Sept. 24, the agency said 45,000 employees would remain working, while 6,200 workers would be furloughed until a deal is reached.
Will there be an impact on veterans’ benefits and health care?
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there would be no impact to veterans’ health care and benefits would still be administered. The only disruptions would be the closing of regional offices and some impact on services for veterans like outreach and career counseling.
Will I still get my mail?
The U.S. Postal Service — an independent agency — and its employees would not be affected by a shutdown, meaning mail services would not be affected.
How will a shutdown affect my travel plans?
Air traffic controllers and TSA officers would also be working without pay, which could lead to huge delays and longer wait times at airports. During the last shutdown, a large number of TSA agents called off work because of the economic hardships they faced having no paycheck for five weeks.
A pressure point in the 2019 government shutdown was the chaos it created at several major airports, where not enough TSA agents and air traffic controllers could navigate the country’s air traffic system.