Come next Thursday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says the government will be out of financial tricks. It will have just about $30 billion on hand. That’s less than a day’s worth of expenses. Then what happens? Steve Bell is senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He gives a step-by-step explanation of what it means to hit the debt ceiling.

The Pentagon estimates 250,000 troops are returning home with traumatic brain injuries. Now what started out as an experimental way to treat the worst cases is spreading to the rest of the military health system. Fort Belvoir is among the first installations to open a National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Dr. Heechin Chae is its director.

Prime contractors feeling the pinch of the government shutdown might be tempted to cancel their subcontractors and take the work in-house. If you’re a subcontractor, you may have a few options. In this week’s Legal Loop, Devon Hewitt of the Protorae Law Group has answers.

If the federal government’s partial shutdown was a balloon, it would leak air slowly rather than pop all at once. Ten days in and one of the latest agencies to run out of 2013 money is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for safety of nuclear reactors and licensing of new facilities. The NRC notified contractors that today it is basically halting operations. Chairman of the NRC, Allison Macfarlane, has details. Read more.

Change could be coming to the way cost-of-living increases are calculated, giving federal employees and retirees one more thing to worry about these days. And you thought the shutdown and constant threats to pay and benefits were enough. Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller explains the debate over using a chained CPI.

The Veterans Affairs Department says it will furlough thousands more employees in the coming weeks if the shutdown drags on. Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu has details.