Story highlights Negotiators have yet to reach an agreement to prevent a government shutdown

The special counsel's office would be one of the entities exempt from furlough

Washington (CNN) The special counsel investigation led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller would be able to continue, even if the federal government shuts down over an impasse on the budget.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed to CNN that employees in the special counsel office are considered exempt from furlough and "would continue their operations in the case of a lapse in appropriations."

The shutdown looms for Friday at midnight as congressional and Trump administration negotiators grapple with an agreement to continue funding the government, and some Democrats mull how to force a plan to protect recipients of the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program.

Should Congress and the White House fail to achieve a spending agreement, much of the government will shut down, and federal operations will lapse until a spending plan is passed. During the lapse in funding, however, all employees whose work is not funded by the regular appropriations process are "exempt" from the mandatory furlough that other federal employees have during a shutdown.

The special counsel probe is not part of the annual funding process Congress approves for the Justice Department, and therefore its employees are exempt from the potential shutdown.

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