Where Things Stand -- Impact of Federal Government Shutdown Varies
The closure of significant portions of the federal government this week has had a varying impact on departments and agencies tracked by FYI. Here is a brief summary of where things now stand on this, the third day of shutdown:
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: One day before the shutdown started, President Clinton signed the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for FY 1996. DOE, along with the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation, are the only three federal departments functioning normally this week. In signing DOE’s appropriation, Clinton stated, “The bill supports the Administration’s proposal to reinvent the Department of Energy to improve the way it serves the American people.... [T]he bill provides full funding for one of my key science initiatives to enhance the operation and availability of the Department of Energy’s science facilities, giving more researchers access to these facilities to conduct more basic and applied research. This is a modest investment that will leverage a significant return from the scientific community.” It should be noted that the bill contains funding for two major DOE national laboratories located in New Mexico, a state represented by Senator Pete Domenici (R), a key player in budget negotiations.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION and NASA: Funding for these two agencies is provided in the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill. This bill is one of many Congress has yet to complete. Next week, Congress may pass a separate appropriation for some VA programs, which would reduce pressure on the need to pass the entire bill. Approximately 94% of NASA’s 21,000 civil servants have been affected by the furlough. NSF is now being staffed by 22 employees.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE: Republican efforts to include Commerce dismantlement legislation in the debt ceiling bill collapsed late last week when Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) requested that the Senate delete this provision from the debt bill. Abraham, a major force for dismantlement in the Senate, declared, “the simple fact is that this is not the right time and this is not the right vehicle.” The Senate agreed by voice vote to delete this provision. In all likelihood, this is not the end of this effort, Abraham telling fellow senators, “It is my hope that at another time - hopefully very soon - we will have the opportunity to look” at similar legislation. Added the chairman of the House Republican Conference, John A. Boehner (R-OH), “In the end, the [elimination] of the Commerce Department is going to happen. It may not be on this bill, but it is going to happen.” Meanwhile, Commerce furloughed over 25,000 employees this week, since Congress has not sent an FY 1996 Commerce appropriations bill to the White House.
The outlook for a resolution of this dispute is very clouded. Last week, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) warned, “If we have to shut down government for a month, we will.” All of this serves as a prelude to a much larger conflict which will soon be coming to a head: a massive budget reconciliation bill the President has already indicated that he will veto. Members of Congress are now being told that they may be celebrating Thanksgiving in Washington this year.
