The White House is sending about one-third of its employees home during the government shutdown, but all DOGE staffers are staying on the job.
A shutdown occurs when government funding runs out. When that happens, federal agencies to “furlough” non-essential employees, temporarily suspending them from their jobs until the shutdown is over.
According to the Executive Office of the President’s shutdown plan, the White House is furloughing 554 out of 1,733 total staff, accounting for a little less than a third of all staff.
The plan shows that of the 45 DOGE staff employed by the White House, none are being furloughed. The plan was first reported by POLITICO.
Executive Office of the President
Despite Elon Musk’s feud with President Donald Trump and departure from the White House, DOGE has continued to operate.
By comparison, a slight majority of the 373 employees who work in the White House Office — the portion of the White House that directly serves the president — have been furloughed.
The shutdown plan also largely spares the National Security Council, where just one out of 31 employees is being furloughed, and the Office of the US Trade Representative, where just 20 out of 227 employees are being furloughed.
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During the 2018-2019 shutdown, the US Digital Service — which was rebranded to DOGE by the Trump administration — was also exempt from furloughs, according to a shutdown contingency plan from Trump’s first term.
Spokespeople for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An email auto-reply from the White House stated that “the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays” due to the shutdown.
“As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open,” the message read.
The US government has been shut down since Wednesday, owing to disagreements on Capitol Hill over government funding.
Though Republicans control the presidency and both chambers of Congress, Democratic votes are necessary under current Senate rules to pass government funding bills and break a 60-vote “filibuster.”
Republicans drafted a short-term funding bill without Democratic input, and Democrats have use the shutdown to push for a rollback of Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” while pushing for a permanent extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits.
