Federal workers are flooding social media Wednesday with confusion and frustration as the government shutdown leaves most of them without pay.
On the Reddit forum r/NIH, joined by 33,000 members dedicated to the National Institutes of Health, employees asked whether consultants must continue working without pay and whether nonessential workers could still access their campuses.
Others joked about taking Tylenol for their “furlough headaches,” referencing President Donald Trump’s recent controversial remarks linking the pain reliever to autism.
Workers also sharply criticized a Health and Human Services email sent to all agency employees just hours before the government closed its doors. Many called it “pure partisan” and “disturbing.”
The email, sent Tuesday afternoon, read in part: “President Trump opposes a government shutdown … Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking a Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands. The agency has contingency plans in place for executing an orderly shutdown of activities that would be affected by any lapse in appropriations forced by Congressional Democrats.”
It was sent to employees across HHS, including the NIH, the Food and Drug Administration and the Social Security Administration. Users said they received similar messaging at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce.
Many users in this Reddit thread called the email propaganda and urged their HHS colleagues to report it, citing potential violations of the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity among federal executive branch employees.
Others said the HHS email was “tame” compared to messaging from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), whose website read, “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their 1.5 trillion wish list of demands.”
One Reddit user described the HUD messaging as “totally normal and not at all abhorrent overreach.”
On r/fednews, a Reddit thread joined by 585,000 members dedicated to federal news across agencies, users shared mixed reactions to the government shutdown. Some praised Democrats for holding firm on health-related demands and blamed Republicans for inaction, while others criticized both parties for failing to compromise and leaving them without pay.
Users also discussed the potential mass layoffs the Office of Management and Budget warned could follow a shutdown. Some dismissed the threats as “vague” or “hot air,” questioning whether permanently terminating employees during a shutdown is even legal. Others joked about who would remain to do their jobs after mass firings across federal agencies earlier this year.
On X, users shared similar confusion and frustration, debating how long the shutdown might last and who was to blame.
On Facebook, federal employees focused on educating followers about what the shutdown means for them and their colleagues, while other users sharply criticized lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Across platforms, users wished one another a “happy government shutdown day” and speculated about whether lawmakers would continue receiving pay, with many hoping they would not.
Some expressed concern about back pay, which compensates federal employees for missed hours once a shutdown ends. Users also voiced uncertainty about disruptions beyond their agencies, including air travel and visits to museums.
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