Government Shutdown Continues

Debt Ceiling Looms The partial government shutdown is on its third day and there is no clear indication as to how it will end or how long it will last.  The House of Representatives and the Senate have spent almost a week playing a game of legislative ping-pong, where the Senate passed four clean continuing resolutions (CRs) and the House Republicans refused to pass a clean CR and  have, instead, passed four CRs that include provisions either repealing, defunding or delaying different parts of  Obamacare.  The Senate Democrats have voted down all four House-passed CRs because of the respective Obamacare provisions.  In addition to Obamacare, House and Senate CR’s differ in length: the Senate wants a 45-day CR (Nov. 15), while the House prefers a 75-day CR (Dec. 15).  Both House and Senate bills include the post sequester funding levels of $986.3 billion. That funding level is considered a victory for Republicans because Senate Democrats are drafting their FY 2014 appropriations bills at funding levels of $1.058 trillion. With the shutdown looking to continue into the weekend and certain conservative Republicans refusing to compromise, there appears to be a growing realization that Congress and the president will likely have to deal with resolving the debt ceiling issues at the same time as the government shutdown.  This may present the opportunity to deal with funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and addressing our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges collectively. AGC joined more than 250 other groups urging the House and Senate to finalize work on a continuing resolution and an increase in the debt limit so that they can deal with the real causes of the country’s long term debt problems. The letter – which went to all members of the House and Senate last week – says in part, “Congress cannot continue ‘kicking the can down the road:’ it’s time to take corrective action to address the unaffordable path of entitlement spending, to stabilize federal finances and to undertake fundamental tax reform to strengthen the American Economy.” AGC has also created a Government Shutdown Resource Center to help contractors navigate the shutdown.  This document provides information on what contracts will be in jeopardy and which will be unaffected.  It also gives advice on how to proceed with federal owners if certain approvals may be needed or if there are question about how to bill costs associated with delays caused by the government shutdown. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.