Complete Story
01/22/2018
Update: Government Shuts Down, But FCC Remains Open, For Now
The government shut down at midnight Friday (Jan. 19) as Republicans and Democrats failed to come to an agreement on a bill to keep funding the government. The FCC said Friday that if the government shut down, the commission will not, at least for the first week--through Friday, Jan. 26, at least.
Asked what the FCC would do in case of an extended shutdown, Brian Hart, director of the FCC's Office of Media Relations, had said earlier in the day: “In the event of a partial government shutdown, because of available funding, the Federal Communications Commission plans to remain open and pay staff at least through the close of business on Friday, January 26.”
Hart had no comment on what would happen beyond that first week, though the FCC did submit a shutdown plan in December at OMB's request.
During the October 2013, three-week, government shutdown, the FCC shuttered its web site and had to suspend its filing deadlines and suspend its merger-review shot clocks. Commissioners and some essential personnel still came to work, however.
A senior White House official said that a number of agencies had existing funds that could keep them open and paying staff, and that the Trump Administration had encouraged them to do so to minimize the impact of the shutdown on the public and federal workers. The official also signaled that the previous Admiinstration during the 2013 shutdown had appeared to want to exacerbate the impact of that shutdown for political purposes, something this Administration was not going to do.
