Passport services employees at the State Department are showing up to work without pay during the second-longest government shutdown — an unusual step, considering this part of the agency is fee-funded and can normally pay staff on time during a lapse in congressional funding.
A majority of State Department personnel — about 62% of its workforce — are “excepted,” meaning they work without pay during a government shutdown, but typically receive back pay once the shutdown ends.
The State Department isn’t the only agency denying paychecks to shutdown-exempt staff. Federal News Network previously reported that the largely fee-funded General Services Administration has also furloughed staff whose work is funded through non-congressional funds.
These employees are among the 730,000 federal employees who are working without pay during the shutdown, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, and have missed one full paycheck so far.
]]>
Boyd Hinton, president of National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1998, which represents about 1,500 passport services employees, told Federal News Network that staff usually get paid on time and keep working during a government shutdown. But during this lapse in funding, Hinton said 87 passport services employees have been furloughed, and the rest are expected to continue working without pay, until the shutdown ends.
“This time around, we are impacted,” Hinton said. “Our first check was curtailed, and then now this check coming in is straight-up zero.”
About 1.4 million federal employees have received a partial paycheck and missed a full paycheck, so far under the government shutdown. More than half of them are working without pay, and the rest are furloughed.
The State Department’s shutdown contingency plans state the Bureau of Consular Affairs is “generally expected to operate normally” during a shutdown, and that its operations “domestically and abroad will remain operational as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations.”
A State Department spokesperson told Federal News Network last week that “the hard-working men and women of the State Department are still showing up and delivering results for the American people despite Democrats’ refusal to reopen the government or pay these employees for their work.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told Federal News Network that the “funds to pay these employees are available and this has been the standard practice in previous shutdowns.”
“Consular employees and passport specialists provide an essential service, and their work is funded through an independent funding stream that should not be impacted by the shutdown. Why these critical employees are not receiving pay raises serious questions,” Shaheen said.
]]>
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) thanked State Department employees and other frontline federal employees for showing up to work, even though they are “not being able to pay their bills” during the shutdown.
“We have workers whose lives are being very literally affected, and they’re still coming to work every day,” Mast told reporters on Wednesday. “Those are really big, amazing people. That’s our American workforce.”
Hinton said leaders within the Bureau of Consular Affairs have been unable to explain why employees are working without pay, when the bureau is fee-funded and normally exempt from a government shutdown.
“What happened to all of our funds, since we’re fee-based? And why are we being subjected to this?” he said.
Office of Management and Budget data shows the State Department has at least $522 million in passport fees available to spend in fiscal 2026.
Despite the missing paychecks, Hinton said it’s business as usual for passport services. His office in Charleston, South Carolina, recently hired a new passport services employee during the shutdown.
“What irony, to get hired on passport services for no pay,” he said.
As the shutdown drags on with no end in sight, Hinton said some passport services employees have approached management with a request to “self-furlough,” so they can find paying work during the shutdown. That approach is unlikely to succeed, because they provide an essential public-facing service, and furlough decisions are made by agency leadership.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association recently told reporters that some of its members, who are also working without pay during the shutdown, are taking second jobs with Uber and DoorDash to pay their bills.
]]>
Earlier this month, the State Department gave employees a creditor letter, explaining to landlords, banks and utility companies that most of its workforce will not be paid on time, “regardless of whether an employee is performing functions vital to national security,” and may have trouble paying their bills on time.
“Because their compensation is impacted by the lapse in appropriations, some of our employees may have difficulty meeting their financial obligations on time,” Under Secretary of State for Management Jason Evans wrote in the Oct. 16 letter. “This lapse in appropriations is beyond our employees’ control. We appreciate your organization’s understanding and flexibility toward State Department employees until this situation is resolved.”
Hinton, who has worked in passport services since 2004, said this is the first time he’s received any notice like this from the department.
“I’ve never had to get a creditor letter like this before, and I’ve never had a curtailment in pay,” he said.
On Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees called on lawmakers to pass a continuing resolution and end the government shutdown.
“A rational person would read the pleas of the federal workers and conclude that it is time to end the charade and turn the lights back on,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Wednesday.
Congress, however, is no closer to reaching a deal to end the government shutdown.
Last week, the Senate failed to pass a Republican-led bill that would immediately pay federal employees who have been working without pay during the shutdown, as well as a Democrat-led bill that would immediately pay excepted and furloughed federal employees.
The shutdown will become the longest shutdown in U.S. history, if lawmakers don’t reach a deal before Wednesday, Nov. 5.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Wednesday that House Democrats “want to reopen the government and do it immediately.”
“We can find a path forward, but it’s not going to come from Republicans in the House and the Senate at the leadership level. It’s got to come from the Trump administration saying the American people have had enough of this Republican shutdown,” Jeffries said.
The Trump administration has repurposed funds to keep active-duty military and 70,000 federal law enforcement personnel at the Department of Homeland Security from missing a paycheck. But it has not used these same extraordinary measures to ensure civilian federal employees get paid on time.
“We got the people that we want paid, paid,” President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House earlier this month.
Last week, Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), along with Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), joined more than 60 of their colleagues in calling on OMB to immediately reinstate any furloughed employees at agencies fully funded through user fees, and to resume paychecks for employees who are working without pay.
“There is no legal, financial, or historical reason to furlough or withhold pay from any federal employees whose wages do not rely on appropriated funds,” the lawmakers wrote. “These employees are non-partisan Americans who work hard to ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of their fellow Americans day in and day out.”
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email jheckman@federalnewsnetwork.com, or reach out on Signal at jheckman.29
Copyright
© 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
