India, Oct. 1 -- When Congress fails to pass appropriations or a continuing resolution, parts of the federal government must shut down operations that are funded by discretionary spending. In practice, this means many federal jobs are disrupted-some workers are furloughed (put on temporary unpaid leave), others must keep working without pay, and a small number continue to be paid because their roles are funded outside the appropriations process.

A wide variety of federal roles can be affected, depending on each agency's contingency plan:

Non-essential (non-excepted) staff across many agencies are typically furloughed. These include administrative staff, regulatory inspectors, grant program officers, research staff in discretionary progr...