The federal government on Friday was within hours of its first shutdown in years as leaders in Washington scrambled for a last-minute deal on another short-term budget. If that fails, the Department of Energy and its Office of Environmental Management could shortly be forced to furlough most employees and suspend many operations.
While the House of Representatives passed another stopgap spending plan Thursday night, and President Donald Trump was meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at press time, there was still significant doubt that the measure would secure the needed 60 votes in the Senate.
The situation prompted DOE to post a public plan Friday of its management of a “potential lapse in funding.” The document says in the “immediate future” federal employees would continue to report for work as scheduled.
The Energy Department would first use leftover balances, if any, from prior appropriations. Once those funds are expended, however, employee furloughs would result and most department services not involving the protection of human life or property would be suspended.
“At most DOE facilities, all operations will cease once prior year balances have been exhausted,” DOE said in the document. “Under the protection of property exception, DOE will be physically protecting the sites (guns, guards and gates).”
When it comes to contracts, “we are reviewing what functions will continue because of protection of human life or property,” according to the document. Department contracting officers, who are not furloughed, could modify certain contracts if needed.
The Office of Environmental Management directed inquiries about government closure contingency plans to DOE headquarters press office, which responded with a link to the contingency plan.
The Washington Post reported early Friday that 73 percent of Energy Department employees would be sent home at some point in the event of a government shutdown.
Department documents from the last government shutdown in 2013 indicated the Office of Environmental Management would retain a skeleton staff at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at cleanup sites across the nation. The office now oversees 16 active nuclear cleanup projects.
The measure approved by the House Thursday would fund EM cleanup at an annualized rate of $6.4 billion, which is not much less than the $6.5 billion the administration sought for fiscal 2018.
Like the prior measures, this continuing resolution would include the standard language to prevent disruption of environmental remediation projects supported by the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund, such as the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio.
DOE Contractors Working on Their Own Contingency Plans
An industry observer said Thursday contractors at DOE cleanup sites are working on a variety of contingency plans should there be a government shutdown.
“That’s pretty much what they do every time,” the source said. “There’s also sorts of contingency planning going on.”
Project managers need to arrange to stay in touch with employees, many of whom work four days per week of 10-hour shifts, so their last day on the job this week might have been Thursday. It’s not a huge problem, but it can require some type of Facebook page or call-in plan, the source noted.
Congress has previously approved three budget continuing resolutions to keep the government running so far during the 2018 fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, 2017. While they don’t like the piecemeal nature of continuing resolutions, many contractors have grudgingly accepted this as the “new normal,” sources have said in recent months.
