“The government is currently running on a continuing resolution, or CR, that expires Friday, Dec. 3, at midnight. Congress has yet to pass the defense authorization bill, among other urgent legislation. Compounding the pressure, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has estimated the government will hit its debt ceiling—authorization to pay on debts already incurred—on or about Dec. 15.
‘My understanding is that [Congress] is debating right now whether they do a CR into February or so, get past the holidays, or do they do it for two weeks’ to buy themselves time to get a budget deal done before Christmas, said Trey Hodgkins, former senior vice president, public sector, Information Technology Alliance for Public Sector and now founder of Hodgkins Consulting. ‘If it’s a clean CR, not changing anything—if there’s a natural disaster, it might have extra money—it could’ pass quickly…”
“If a shutdown occurs, only government employees and contractors designated as exempt can work; non-exempt agencies and contracts, everything from national parks to cafeteria and janitorial services, are closed…”
“Hodgkins pointed out that large contractors may be able to keep employees assigned to government contracts on paid leave during the shutdown, or move them either to essential contracts or to commercial contracts. That creates the risk of a ripple effect, however. ‘My engineer moved to another contract, now the government is working again but I don’t have a computer engineer available anymore,’ he said. ‘Then I’m stuck playing catch-up.’…”
“’An important piece is for contractors to understand the chaotic situation that [will] exist,’ [Gordon Bitko, ITI’s senior vice president of policy] said. ‘First and foremost, you can’t overstate the importance of talking to your contracting officers, finding out what their guidance is … Some of it will be clear, some will depend on the contracting officers.’…” Read the full article here.
Source: Getting Ready for the Next Budget Showdown – By Patience Wait, November 29, 2021. Nextgov.
