Federal Government Shutdown Continues
The federal government entered its third week of government shutdown, as Congress has not reached an agreement on how to fund the federal government temporarily. The Senate again voted on the House-approved continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through November 21, yet the measure again failed to surpass the 60-vote threshold, with Senate Democrats largely opposed. As previously shared, Senate Democrats have continued to call for any funding measure to include healthcare tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year, insisting that their support would be exchanged for this inclusion.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) sought a new strategy to end the shutdown this week by bringing the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Department of Defense Appropriations Act that was approved by the House earlier in the appropriations cycle to the floor for a vote. Senate Republicans were not able to secure enough votes to move the legislation forward.
As previously reported, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Labor (DOL) have released contingency plans detailing how each agency will function during the shutdown, and DOL has also issued updated guidance on the availability of funds during this period.
Advance CTE will continue to monitor the progress of these appropriations discussions and will continue to communicate the potential impact on education and workforce programs to the wider CTE community.
Trump Admin Lays Off Furloughed Federal Employees
As the federal government shutdown continues, the Trump administration has sought to initiate workforce reductions affecting more than 4,000 federal employees. These reductions-in-force (RIF) included staff at the ED who are impacted in the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and the Office of Communications (OOC). Due to the furloughed status of these ED staff, it is difficult to confirm which offices and positions are affected further. The administration has described these actions as part of a border budget and restructuring effort, yet the RIFs taking place during a shutdown are unprecedented.
This week, a federal court temporarily paused the RIFs, ruling that the administration must first meet legal requirements for conducting such layoffs and allowing further time to review as the case proceeds in court.
Following increased interest in shutdown impacts on furloughed workers, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued new guidance suggesting that furloughed federal employees may not be automatically guaranteed back pay, citing that the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 does not appropriate funds. This would reverse earlier guidance indicating that workers would receive retroactive pay, consistent with policy from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
As a reminder, ED and other federal departments released contingency plans detailing how each agency will function during the shutdown, which do not reflect the staffing reductions for furloughed employees.
Advance CTE will continue to monitor the impact of the shutdown on RIFs and furloughed employees who work on CTE, education, and workforce policy at the federal level, and communicate potential effects on the wider CTE community.
