Federal Shutdown

What does this mean for FEMA?

Alt-FEMA NewsletterOct 2

Well, it happened.

The government has shut down. We won’t go into detail about the who and why, because we are sure you already know these answers (Emergency managers and disaster responders are notorious for staying up to date on current events—it’s in our blood). Now is the time to break down how the shutdown will affect not only interagency capacity and the impacts for employees, but also the impacts for Americans who rely on FEMA to be there before, during, and after disaster strikes.

Shutdown Notice

FEMA employees received emails announcing the impending government shutdown. They were, in all honesty, very lackluster in explaining the potential impacts. The core notice was this:

Shutdown Notice

FEMA emloyees received emails announcing the impending Government shutdown. They were, in all honesty, very lackluster in explaining the potential impacts. The core notce was this:

• Exempt employees will continue working with normal pay
• Excepted employees will continue working without pay until funding is restored
• Non-exempt employees will be furloughed and may not perform any work

If this is your first government shutdown as a federal employee, you may not know that in “the before times”—prior to the current administration—employees would receive several in-depth and explanatory emails about the potential lapse in funding and how specific roles and operations would be affected. These editors have been informed by FEMA staff that this did not happen this time around, and that it appeared the agency—specifically leadership—was wholly unprepared for this to occur. Some staff reported not even knowing, on the day of, how their roles would be affected or if they would be furloughed.

Since they failed to explain the impacts, we decided to take a crack at it.

Let’s break this down a bit more and explain who and what roles are impacted, as well as how this may affect disaster work, grants, and other aspects pertaining to the disaster response cycle.

Examples of Exempt employees: Disaster-funded positions under the Disaster Releif Fund include

• Public Assistance and Individual Assistance staff working on declared disasters
• Hazard Mitigation (Hazard Mitigation Grants Program, Hazard Mitigation Assistance, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) Personnel tied to active disaster operations
• Regional Recovery Division staff funded by the DRF

In short: If your pay comes from disaster operations funding (DRF), you are likely exempt.

Examples of Excepted FEMA Roles:

These employees are not exempt, but their work is “necessary for the protection of life and property” under OMB Circular A-11, Section 124. They must continue reporting to duty, even without immediate pay.

• NRCC / RRCC staff supporting ongoing incidents
• Watch officers in the National Watch Center / Regional Watch Centers
• Continuity of Operations (COOP) personnel
• Field Leadership & Response Coordinators
• Essential administrative support needed for life-safety mission execution (limited HR, travel, finance)

In short: These are people who must work to protect lives or property, even if funding lapses — they’ll receive back pay once appropriations resume.

Examples of Non-Exempt Employees (Furloughed — no work allowed):

These employees are funded by annual appropriations (e.g., salaries paid from base budgets, not DRF or WCF) and whose duties are not deemed essential under OMB guidance. They must be furloughed and cannot perform any work — including checking email or Teams — during the lapse.

• HQ administrative staff not tied to life-safety missions
• Policy analysts, planners, and training personnel not supporting DRF or COOP missions
• Non-disaster-funded Mission Support staff
• Grants management staff not tied to open disaster operations (e.g., preparedness grants)
• Program analysts or coordinators working on non-emergency policy development

In short: If you’re funded by annual appropriations and your work isn’t directly life-safety or DRF-related, you’d be furloughed.

Agency Operations Impacted:
These activities are non-essential and non-funded during a lapse.

• Public Engagement & Non-Mission Communications
• Public Affairs will limit output to disaster communications only.
• Website updates, non-disaster social media, and outreach campaigns will be paused.
• Community engagement events, unless related to life-safety, will be canceled.
• External visibility will be reduced, and outreach programs will be suspended.Response from the Current Administration: