White House, Agencies Begin Preparing for Shutdown

This story has been updated with additional shutdown guidance from the White House.

Federal agencies have once again begun preparing for a government shutdown, as the clock ticks down toward an appropriations lapse and little sign of a funding deal in place to prevent it.

The White House said it has begun to work with agencies to prepare for the possibility of a large swath of the federal workforce being furloughed without pay beginning at midnight.

“Prudent management requires that the government plan for the possibility of a lapse and OMB is working with agencies to take appropriate action,” an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson said. The official added there remains enough time for Congress to prevent the appropriations lapse and called on Congress to pass a short-term stopgap and complete the funding process after the holidays.

“It is our hope that this work will ultimately be unnecessary and that there will be no lapse in appropriations,” the spokesperson said.

The House on Thursday easily approved a continuing resolution that would keep federal agencies funding at their fiscal 2016 levels through April 28. Many Senate Democrats have balked at the measure, saying it fails to provide a long-term solution to fund health care for retired coal miners. If the Senate fails to act Friday evening, the government will shut down.

Agencies will not likely have to close their doors for long; Senate procedures will allow the chamber to approve the CR with only a handful of Democrats in support by Sunday morning. Of the roughly 900,000 federal employees who were subject to furloughs in agencies’ most recent calculations, most would not be materially impacted as they do not work on weekends. Individual agencies have not yet produced specific plans for how they will deal with the current shutdown threat.

At a press briefing Friday, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said OMB will make a determination on the likely duration of a shutdown and advise agencies accordingly.

“If it is apparent late Friday evening or early Saturday that a new CR will be enacted on Saturday, our Office of Management and Budget will instruct agencies to act in a normal manner, and not engage in a shutdown procedure,” Schultz said. “If OMB determines late Friday or early Saturday that a CR is not likely to be enacted, we will issue instructions for agencies to proceed with their shutdown implementation.”

He added that process will include the “orderly shutdown” of non-exempted employees, and each agency will have to work through its own “furlough issues” for days the government is normally open. 

The White House, despite calling on Congress to avoid a shutdown, appeared on Thursday to throw its support behind Senate Democrats’ efforts.

“Democrats are ready to solve this problem, and it’s not lost on me the irony that Republicans are bragging about the kind of support they have from workers in coal country, particularly retirees in coal country, and now are prepared to just extend their health care for five months,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. “So we’ll have to see exactly whether or not that’s something that Republicans in Congress can fix before they send the bill to the White House.”

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., implored Democrats to go along with the House-passed CR -- which also funds miners’ health care through April -- and deal with their issues at a later date. All senators must grant unanimous consent to move up the vote on the spending bill to avoid a shutdown. Reaching an accord to address Democratic misgivings before the holidays is unlikely, as the House has already adjourned and many of its members have already left Washington, D.C. 

“We should pass the CR without delay,” McConnell said, noting a majority of House Democrats went along with the measure. “Failure to pass this legislation means shutting down the government. Over what?”

Image via Philip Bird LRPS CPAGB/Shutterstock.com.