Most government employees who are crucial to travel safety will continue working — albeit unpaid — during a government shutdown. All but about 4,000 of the Transportation Security Administration’s more than 59,000 employees will stay on the job, according to the agency’s most recent shutdown plan.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the agency responsible for air traffic controllers and aircraft and pilot safety certifications, would also continue most of its work. Some 16,000 of its more than 45,000 employees would be furloughed, the agency projects, but air traffic controllers, accident investigators, anti-terrorism and intelligence officials and other safety officials would stay on the job. The FAA’s hiring and training programs would temporarily shut down, and facility safety inspections would also stop.
The State Department will continue issuing passports and visas in the United States and abroad, the agency said, because the work is considered essential to national security, and most funding is covered by the fees that passport applicants typically pay.
Some passport locations, however, are located in government buildings run by agencies more deeply affected by a government shutdown. If those buildings are closed, the State Department might suspend consular and passport services, it said in its contingency plan.
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