Eye on Policy

To paraphrase a line from President Lincoln’s second inaugural address, all dreaded it, all sought to avert it … And the shutdown came.

The manifest cause of the shutdown might well be one’s interest in extending health care subsidies. But the fundamental cause is a generalized failure of Congress to do the work of agency-by-agency appropriations on any kind of meaningful schedule and on any reasonable philosophic basis.

I have lived professionally through shutdowns since the first 1995 one during the Bill Clinton administration. They all entail bitterness, this one more than most.

Lengths of shutdowns have varied from a few hours to, of course, the month-long one during the first Trump administration. Until now, the government has emerged intact. In 2019 Congress codified the assurance that federal employees would receive the pay they did not get during shutdowns. Meantime the list of services the government deems essential and therefore continues during appropriations lapses has steadily expanded.

What is different this time? Mainly that the Trump administration has stated it will use the shutdown to eliminate employees connected to the programs that a) do not have appropriations and b) the administration would like to end. This is not a sure thing; the guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget gives agency heads leave to consider reductions-in-force. Does the White House intend to do this? Or does it want to make the shutdown so unpalatable that the parties will have to get together? Probably a little of both, but, as President Trump likes to say, “We’ll have to see what happens.”

No fixed rule applies to contractors trying to navigate the shutdown and maintain corporate normalcy. That is because whether work continues depends on multiple factors. Top among these is the funding source and type for each contract. For instance, a contract might have a limitation of cost and funds clause. If so, any costs a contractor incurs may not be reimbursed.

On the other hand, some costs can receive cost coverage and have delays forgiven if these conditions are government-induced. It is therefore incumbent on contractors documenting everything, which they should do anyway.

It sounds basic, but it is worth checking whether a given contracting officer is on duty. The Defense Department only furloughed about half of its civilian workforce. One sure source of information on status of a contract is the CO, whether he or she is working. To its credit, DoD—its leadership fresh off a lecture about waistlines from Secretary Pete Hegseth—has posted detailed shutdown guidance, which includes contracting information. In some cases, work can continue, but companies will not get paid until after Congress restores appropriations.

The Education Department has a similarly-formatted guidance document. Good luck getting further information there, though. Federal News Network reports that 2,000 of the department’s 2,500 employees are furloughed.

Other agencies provide less help. The State Department helpfully says on its homepage, “Due to the Democrat-led shutdown, website updates will be limited until full operations resume.” Housing and Urban Development has a wide, red banner across its website, stating, “The Radical Left in Congress such down the government. HUD will use available resource to help Americans in need.” Subtle.

The Transportation Department less partisanly states, “Portions of [DOT] are currently in shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations. Please continue to monitor this page for updates on DOT’s operating status.”

Not all agencies have entered somnambulance. For instance, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued two advisories and two alerts on October 2, the second day of the shutdown. So, somebody is on the job there. The main Homeland Security site has information for employees during the lapse, and about the impact on the department’s social media activities. Nearly all DHS employees remain on the job anyway.

The Trump administration, in contrast to the first time around, has not shown a lot of energy directed towards improvement of government’s services and the user experience agencies deliver. Since digital services correlate highly with agency function or specific mission, and since specific missions lie in the administration’s cross hairs, I would expect most IT work for now to focus on infrastructure and shared services.

Whether significant RIFs occur will depend on how long the shutdown goes. Politics consist of wheels within wheels. The real-life effects include an underperforming government engendering even less trust.