ARLINGTON, VA — Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) this week prodded hundreds of people here for the National Cleanup Workshop to urge their congressional representatives to avoid a federal government shutdown but stopped short of predicting a stopgap agreement before fiscal 2023 ends Sept. 30.
“Reach out to your member of congress,” said Fleischmann, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water development subcommittee. Tell the lawmaker “’Please, we do not want to have a government shutdown’,” said Fleischmann.
“I sincerely hope so,” Fleischmann said when asked by Exchange Monitor if he expects Congress to avoid a shutdown.
“I have lived through some government shutdowns,” Fleischmann said. During one early shutdown, Fleischmann, whose district includes the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, recalled seeing a popular restaurant saying everyone was welcomed to eat there — except members of Congress.
While Fleischmann would not make a prediction, a couple of weapons-complex government watchers attending the DOE National Cleanup Workshop, hosted here by Energy Communities Alliance, said they expect a continuing budget resolution will be reached by Sept. 30 and will likely extend into January.
A continuing resolution would freeze federal spending at 2023 levels, removing, or at least delaying, the possibility of proposed increases for the Department of Energy’s civilian nuclear energy and waste programs.
