Although 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed now that a government shutdown has taken effect, major U.S. ports say that they don't expect major disruptions to take hold as the shutdown drags on.

Without approval from Congress on a new spending plan for the fiscal year that began on October 1, this marks the first government shutdown in the U.S. since President Trump's first term in 2018-2019. Even so, the Port of Seattle said in a September 30 release that it planned to remain "fully open and operational" in the event of a shutdown, while urging Congress to find a bipartisan solution to minimize any other potential impacts across the federal government. Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero similarly told SupplyChainBrain that cargo will continue to move through the supply chain at the Southern California shipping hub. 

"We will monitor the situation as it develops, and will remain in close communication with federal agencies, labor and all the key industry sectors who are part of the supply chain," Cordero added. 

The Port of Los Angeles, Port of Houston and Port of Tacoma all echoed those sentiments, telling SupplyChainBrain that they are expecting normal operations moving forward. The Port of Oakland further stated its marine terminals will remain open, "as private operators continue to import and export goods," while a spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey clarified that as an entirely self-funded agency, "a government shutdown would not impact our ability to operate our own facilities."

Several ports also indicated that their federal employees qualify as essential workers, and have historically not been affected by government shutdowns.