As the government shutdown continues into its second week, federal agencies will soon be revising their responses and sending home tens of thousands of additional staff.
Many agencies across government are leaning on carryover funds—money previously provided by Congress and left over in the new fiscal year—to cushion the impact. With the shutdown now in its sixth day, some of that money is starting to run dry and agencies must soon enter a new stage of their operations.
At the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, carryover funds in the Wildland Fire Management account are enabling 3,300 employees to continue working on wildfire preparedness, suppression, and response, as well as fuels management and recruiting. Once those funds are exhausted, only 1,000 employees will be permitted to carry on work on preparedness, suppression and emergency services.
The Census Bureau is using carryover funds to prepare for a decennial census test next year, which the agency called a “mission critical priority for ensuring 2030 Census operational viability.” If the shutdown continues for long, however, employees working on the test would be furloughed.
All told, more than 620,000 federal employees are furloughed, according to agencies’ most up-to-date plans. That number will climb if the shutdown continues for days and weeks.
Some of the most dramatic changes are quickly approaching. The Internal Revenue Service has kept all of its employees working by using Inflation Reduction Act funds. On Wednesday, the agency plans to begin to furlough nearly half of its employees—around 35,000 employees, according to a Bloomberg report. Some, but not all, have been hearing from from their managers about whether they would be furloughed if the shutdown persists. The agency planned to retain all of its staff for five working days of a shutdown, wihch began last Wednesday.
“People legit don’t know whether they are working on Wednesday,” said one employee who had not heard from anyone in management as of Monday afternoon. “No one’s been told whether they are excepted, exempt, or furloughed.”
The Smithsonian Institution also retained all employees to start the shutdown, and kept its museums open, using prior-year funds. It has since announced it will be forced to close its properties Oct. 12. Nearly 3,700 employees are working on prior-year funds, most of whom will be furloughed starting next week.
The Senate on Monday is set to vote once again on a House-backed bill to reopen the government through Nov. 21, but Democrats do not appear likely to provide the 60 votes necessary to send the measure to President Trump’s desk.
Other agencies instructed employees to continue coming to work only for the initial days of a shutdown. The Transportation Department, for example, retained human-resources, budget, and finance personnel to help ensure an orderly transition. Those staffers, and many in similar roles across government, will be sent home this week.
Large swaths of employees who remain on the job do so without a clear timetable. The Indian Health Service retained all of its staff using advance appropriations, third-party collections, and carryover balances. The agency did not forecast what would occur if carryover funds are exhausted, or when that might occur. All told, HHS is keeping 35,000 employees working by using funding available from sources other than annual appropriations.
The Defense Department similarly has 183,000 employees working using such funds, though it has not spelled out whether or when that money could run dry. It, like other agencies, will likely not have to furlough every employee currently tapping the leftover money if such funding expires.
The General Services Administration noted that while carryover funds are financing 3,377 employees who are currently working, mostly at the Public Buildings Service, some of those staff will move to the “excepted” category of employees who continue working throughout a shutdown even if spending runs out.
Some agencies were more confident in their ability to carry on at near-normal levels. Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has about 94 percent of its employees working and said it would slowly send people home over time as funds run dry, but would not reach its full-furlough state for two to three months. The Agriculture Department’s Child Nutrition Programs has sufficient carryover funds to continue reimbursing schools for meals provided through October.
NASA did not detail what would happen when its leftover spending runs dry, but in an usual message within its plan the agency said the carryover funds “will be restricted to presidential priorities.”
Some agencies will adjust their shutdown plans by recalling employees back to their duty stations if the lapse continues. The Homeland Security Department is set to ask more than 1,700 employees currently on furlough to resume working this week, concentrated mostly at the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection the management directorate. The Housing and Urban Development Department, which has sent home 71 percent of staff, will ask around 1,000 employees to work intermittently on excepted activities as the shutdown drags on.
The Justice Department also noted that its components “may call some employees back to work if the need for their services becomes critical, and furlough others as conditions change.”
During the 35-day shutdown of 2018-19, the IRS, Federation Aviation Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and Agriculture Department’s Farm Service Agency collectively recalled tens of thousands of workers to prepare for tax season, conduct various safety and inspection work, and offer services to farmers.
Other agencies were forced to increase their furlough numbers due to the unprecedented length of the shutdown.
The number of employees showing up to work could also vary due to actions workers take on their own accord. Transportation Department Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday the Federal Aviation Administration has seen a “slight tick up” in employees calling out sick since the shutdown began. FAA’s air traffic controllers are forced to work without immediate pay during a funding lapse. They have yet to actually face delayed pay due to the timing of paycheck delivery, though Duffy noted checks set to their accounts next week would be missing pay from the first few days of the shutdown.
“If we have additional sick calls, we will reduce the flow consistent with a rate that’s safe for the American people,” Duffy said of the possibility of canceling flights.
On its website, the National Air Traffic Controller Administration posted a notice that it does not “endorse, support or condone” any employees participating in any coordinated effort to call out. Doing so, the group said, could result in removal from federal service and undermine the union’s credibility.
Still, if the shutdown lasts until paychecks are delayed, employees across government could decide to take steps that would enable them to earn paychecks elsewhere. Both FAA and the Transportation Security Administration in 2019 were forced to reorient their operations in light of higher-than-normal absenteeism as the shutdown dragged into its second month. Lawmakers acted to end the shutdown shortly thereafter.
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