As shutdown looms, federal agencies have no public plans for one

Federal agencies are just eight days away from seeing their funding lapse and having to shutter their offices, though which employees will be sent home remains unknown. 

Typically, agencies publicly post their “contingency plans” in advance of a potential shutdown that detail which workers would be furloughed and which would remain on the job. Large swaths of the federal workforce are exempted from shutdown furloughs due either to the nature of their jobs or because they are funded through means other than annual appropriations. Under existing guidance from the Office of Management and Budget dating back to the Obama administration, agencies are expected to update their plans at least every two years. 

While not every agency complied with that mandate historically, the most recently updated plans were always made publicly available on OMB’s website. Earlier this year, OMB took down those plans. It has not yet restored them and OMB did not respond to multiple inquiries into their status. 

Read more at NextGov/FCW