With Congress failing to agree on a funding deal by midnight Monday, the federal government is now closing its doors for the first time in 17 years, and a government shutdown is no longer a matter of if but how long. Take our poll, and let us know how long you think the shutdown will last.
Some 800,000 employees are being furloughed for however long the shutdown lasts, while skeleton staffs of "essential" federal workers stay on the clock — also without pay. Many feds are clearly frustrated and discouraged by the uncertainty and have taken to social media to vent their frustrations. Let us know how you feel about the shutdown.
Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Frank Wolf (R-Va.) introduced the "Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act" late Monday. The bill would guarantee both employees required to work through the shutdown and those placed on unpaid leave receive backpay.
Some government agency websites were essentially turned off Tuesday morning, as the shutdown officially got underway. Agencies also began sending out messages via social media alerting followers that accounts would not be updated during the shutdown.
For thousands of federal employees who head to work today, it won't be to execute their agencies' missions, but to shut down their computers, fill out a timesheet and, in some cases, hand over their BlackBerry smartphones. Here are four things feds should know as they prepare for the first government shutdown in more than 17 years.
If they ever make a movie or TV sitcom about Congress, they might consider calling it something like "The Wizards of Oooze". And nobody knows why better than feds on the brink of the cliff, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
Service contractors will continue to work as long as they don't need supervision by government employees, if their contracts are unaffected by the absence of a 2014 budget, and as long as they can actually get into their worksites.
Bob Lohfeld, CEO of Lohfeld Consulting, and Ray Bjorklund, president of BirchGrove Consulting will give their thoughts on the government shutdown and the top contracting issues in 2014. September 30, 2013
Federal workers will still have to report to work for about four hours Tuesday even if the government shuts down.
OMB and GSA put out separate memos detailing steps agencies should take if the government shuts down. OMB reminded agencies to secure systems and how to deal with third-party social media sites. GSA gave agencies ideas to minimize the impact of having to shutdown websites.
What's your agency's shutdown plan? Federal News Radio provides links to each agency's guidance in the event of a government shutdown.
If you've been in government for at least two years, this is not your first shutdown rodeo. If you have been around a long time, you've been to the brink a lot, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. But even if one (or even both) sides blink, this is going to happen again. Soon.
Pentagon guidance says military members will report to work as normal under a government shutdown, and most employees working under service contracts would be unaffected as well. But about half the civilian workforce would be told to stay home without pay.
Despite coming close in 2011, a government shutdown hasn't occurred since 1996. Frank Reeder, who was director of the Office of Administration of the White House in the Clinton administration at the time, said one of the most challenging aspects was managing the morale of the federal workforce.
Federal employees began learning Friday whether they'll be forced to stay home if the government shuts down next week. Supervisors were tasked with informally telling employees today whether they are classified as "essential" or "nonessential," according to several federal-employee unions briefed by the Obama administration. Congress is prepared to work through the weekend, but the clock is ticking down for lawmakers to agree on a funding bill keeping the lights on at agencies beyond Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.