No End in Sight as Partial Shutdown Hits 24th Day

Posted on January 14, 2019

With the partial shutdown now in its 24th day, making it the longest shutdown in history by far, there is still no in sight. The two sides– the White House and the Congressional Democrats– have dug in their heels and no other meetings have been scheduled.

It was widely reported last week that a sizable number of the federal employees impacted by the shutdown did not receive their paychecks last week. While some parts of the country may not yet have been impacted by the shutdown, the Washington Post reports on what else could be impacted in the days and weeks to come.

As Shutdown Reaches 21 Days, National Emergency Declaration Being Considered

Posted on January 11, 2019

As the partial government reaches its 21st day, matching the longest shutdown, there is still no compromise between the White House and Congressional Democrats in sight. With that as the current situation, President Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he has the legal authority to declare a “national emergency” to build a physical barrier along the Southern border.

The White House is considering several options with respect to finding funds for the wall, such as trying to use funds that had been designated to deal with other disasters, such as the California wildfires and the hurricanes along the East Coast in 2018, and using funds dedicated to military construction projects.

Even a declaration of a national emergency does not mean that the Administration would be able to build a wall quickly, or if at all. A number of Republicans have publicly cautioned against such a move. In addition, legal challenges will most likely be made to the declaration, with the outcomes uncertain at this point.

Additional information about the this fight is available here, here, and here.

While all of this is playing out politically, today is payday for those federal employees and contractors impacted by the shutdown. The furloughed workers will not be paid today. Read more about the situation impacting employees here.

With Pelosi as Speaker, New House Seeks to Open Government

Posted on January 4, 2019

As expected, the 116th House of Representatives elected yesterday Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as the new Speaker of the House. She returns to the past that she once held.

Also as expected, the Democratically-controlled House a package of measures that would reopen the government: the first combined six of the seven unsigned appropriations bills and would fund the agencies in those bills through the rest of the year, while the second measure would reopen the Department of Homeland Security, with no additional funding for the wall, through February 8. The new House leadership has emphasized that the language approved by the House is the exact same language that was approved by the Republican-controlled Senate before the holidays in order to avoid the partial shutdown before President Trump announced that he would not sign it.

While the House was working on the funding package, both the White House and the Senate Majority Leader reiterated their opposition to the House bill.

With the shutdown now in its 14th day, leaders from both houses and both sides of the aisle are scheduled to meet with the President once again later today.

Read more about the situation here, here, here, and here.

As White House and Hill Leaders Meet on Day 12 of Partial Shutdown, House Dems Unveil Plan to Reopen Government

Posted on January 2, 2019January 2, 2019

Congressional leaders from both chambers and both sides of the aisle are headed to the White House today for a briefing on border security. This is the first such bipartisan meeting to take place since the start of the partial shutdown on Saturday, December 22. At this point, it remains to be seen whether the meeting will turn into a negotiating session or it really will be a briefing on border security. Read more about the meeting and the situation today here and here.

Meanwhile, with the partial shutdown now well into its second week, it is having an impact on a number of agencies that support scientific research agencies funded by a number of the unsigned appropriations bills. Included on this list, for example, are the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA, both of which are funded through the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) bill. Both agencies have released information about grants, reviews and other procedures and processes.

The NSF has posted information about the shutdown for proposers and grantees here and for panelists and potential panelists here.

NASA released its shutdown plan a few days before the shutdown took effect, and it is available here.

In addition, in preparation for their assumption of control tomorrow, January 3, House Democrats have released a legislative package to reopen the federal government. It has two components. The first piece combines six of the seven unsigned appropriations bills, including the CJS measure, into a single vehicle and would fund the agencies in those measures through the rest of FY2019 at the levels approved by either the entire Senate or the Senate Appropriations Committee. The second part of the package seeks to extend funding for the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill on a short-term basis through February 8 with no new funding for a border wall, in an attempt to give the Democrats additional time to look at the agency.

Details about the legislative package are available here.

Even if the package were to pass the House, it has little chance of being passed by the Senate or signed into law.

Shutdown to Last Until First Part of 2019?

Posted on December 27, 2018

With no votes scheduled in either chamber of Congress for the rest of this week and the President more than once reiterating his push for a border wall, it seems unlikely that anything will occur on the shutdown front until the first part of January at the earliest. House Democrats have publicly stated that they plan to bring up a bill that would reopen the government when they assume control on January 3. Whether that has any impact on negotiations remains to be seen.