By — Associated Press Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/750000-federal-employees-could-be-furloughed-daily-in-shutdown-cbo-estimates Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed daily in shutdown, CBO estimates Politics Sep 30, 2025 4:33 PM EDT The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of a shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation at roughly $400 million, according to an analysis of federal agencies’ latest contingency plans and the Office of Personnel Management. READ MORE: Are Democrats or Republicans to blame for the looming government shutdown? Here’s what our poll found The estimate released Tuesday comes in response to Sen. Joni Ernst’s request for an analysis of the impact of what she calls a “Schumer Shutdown” which includes a series of questions about how much damage to the economy would be caused and the expected daily costs to the federal government in lost efficiencies. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. “The effects of a shutdown depend on its duration and on an Administration’s decisions about how to proceed,” the CBO says in its Tuesday analysis, largely using work CBO published in 2019 after the five-week partial shutdown from December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019. WATCH LIVE: Senate gavels in as Congress speeds toward shutdown deadline The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if the Senate does not pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Associated Press Associated Press
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day of a shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation at roughly $400 million, according to an analysis of federal agencies’ latest contingency plans and the Office of Personnel Management. READ MORE: Are Democrats or Republicans to blame for the looming government shutdown? Here’s what our poll found The estimate released Tuesday comes in response to Sen. Joni Ernst’s request for an analysis of the impact of what she calls a “Schumer Shutdown” which includes a series of questions about how much damage to the economy would be caused and the expected daily costs to the federal government in lost efficiencies. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. “The effects of a shutdown depend on its duration and on an Administration’s decisions about how to proceed,” the CBO says in its Tuesday analysis, largely using work CBO published in 2019 after the five-week partial shutdown from December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019. WATCH LIVE: Senate gavels in as Congress speeds toward shutdown deadline The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if the Senate does not pass a House measure that would extend federal funding for seven weeks while lawmakers finish their work on annual spending bills. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now