Government Shutdown: Operations of Department of Defense During a Lapse in Appropriations

摘要

Funding for the Department of Defense, as for most other federal agencies, is being provided through a Continuing Resolution that may expire after April 8, 2011. If additional funding is not provided after then, DOD, like other agencies, may be subject to a lapse in appropriations during which agencies are generally required to shut down. In the past, however, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has identified a number of exceptions to the requirement that agencies cease operations, including a blanket exception for activities that 'provide for the national security.' If the Administration approves of such exceptions in the current circumstances, many Department of Defense activities would continue, though other activities would halt. As a result, during a lapse in appropriations, some DOD personnel would be 'excepted' from furloughs, including most or all uniformed military personnel, while others would not be permitted to work. Even 'excepted' military and civilian personnel who would continue to work and whose pay is normally provided through annual appropriations would not be paid, however, until after appropriations are subsequently provided for that purpose. A frequent question is how this compares to the last government shutdown in 1995-1996. There were two shutdowns at that time, one of five days, from November 13 through November 19, 1995, and one of 21 days, from December 15, 1995 through January 5, 1996. The first shutdown was not long enough to affect pay checks, and DOD was not affected by the second because defense appropriations were enacted on December 1, so funding was available.