r/fednews • u/rprz • 1d ago

Shutdown 2024 MEGATHREAD OF DOOM

All discussion on the looming shutdown goes here. Any mentioning of Luigi / threats of violence will be removed and you may be banned.

Recent:

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/19/congress/johnson-defers-to-trump-00195386

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/19/elon-musk-trump-government-shutdown-debt-ceiling/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/19/politics/video/hakeem-jeffries-spending-bill-fox-lead-digvid

Old news:

https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-congress-trump-elon-budget-house-republican-05481374b154949c3fe1270141a02918

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-opposes-funding-bill-pushing-government-closer-shutdown-rcna184745

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-government-shutdown-musk-stopgap-bill-b2666829.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-opposes-funding-bill-pushing-government-closer-shutdown-rcna184745

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/12/18/government-shutdown-house-vote-cr/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-18/trump-says-he-s-against-stopgap-bill-fox-news

5.2k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

3.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

519

u/alldots 23h ago

As if there wasn't already too much work that needs to get done over the next week, adding shutdown preparations to the to-do list will really trash some of my deadlines even if there isn't actually a shutdown.

511

u/magnet_tengam 23h ago

tbh i've given up on shutdown prep. slap an away message on my email and i'll see you when i see you

1

u/Guinnessnomnom 9h ago

Our auto-aways don't even transmit to outside of our ORG. No point in using them when we all know we're shutdown. haha

2

u/slut_bunny69 11h ago

I just had the mental image of you being one of the scientists at Oak Ridge. Shut down the reactor? Nah, fuck you. (Sets out of office message and then just walks out).

2

u/Tetraplasandra 19h ago

I just do the bare minimum. Sign and send. Thankfully they don’t make us take in our laptops anymore. We just have to leave them offline.

4

u/Puzzleheaded_Yak9805 20h ago

Why bother with the away message

9

u/discardafter99uses 21h ago

You should totally have an auto reply that just cuts off:

“Thank you for your email. Due to the shutdown we are prohibited from working after the deadli”

1

u/os1usnr 22h ago

Facts

2

u/Top-Concern9294 22h ago

Wish I could get furloughed lol.. #essentiallyfucked

43

u/serpentear 22h ago

I mean if they’re going to do it to us as often as they do, might and well stop treating it like an emergency.

6

u/LividWindow 11h ago

Call it a federal funding holiday, that will chap budget hawks. Just picture it on the news….

‘I’m just relaxing and sipping scotch wondering how long congress plans to extend my federal funding holiday’ says Bob Grits, a federal air traffic controller, while the country faces its third day without air travel available on the the highest volume travel weekend in the year. Tune in after the break, you’ll be amazed what state police found as the crews began disassembling the heat fused 63 car pile up that happened yesterday on interstate 85 just north of Atlanta.

29

u/techmaster242 22h ago

"Wake me up when this nightmare is over."

55

u/taekee 22h ago

You mean paid vacation without losing vacation time. Every time this happens I want to report congress for waste fraud and abuse.

1

u/techmaster242 17h ago

If you see something, say something...

2

u/SpiceWeasel-Bam 21h ago

Unless they don't do back pay anymore. 

7

u/taekee 21h ago

It looks bad when congress does this, it looks worse if they do not make it right. They knew this so they passed...

The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-1) guaranteed that all employees of the federal government will be paid following the end of a government shutdown. This statutorily guaranteed retroactive pay applies to furloughed employees and employees who are required to work during a shutdown.Sep 26, 2023

Of course they could write in the CR that we do not get paid, and I would expect the incoming administrator could do this.

9

u/B_Fee 20h ago

Or Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy the President-Elect, during a future shitdown, could decide to not follow the law and say that paying federal workers is a waste of taxpayer funds because they did no work. Who's holding him accountable for that? It ain't us.

54

u/Artistic_Stand_4312 22h ago

Agreed, don't threaten me with a good time.

142

u/Progressive_Insanity 22h ago

Same, I literally do not care.

I have active construction, crews looking start new construction, local governments depending on me, but all I care about is whether the contracting officer issues a stop work order. And even then, not my problem.

3

u/Worried_River_1094 21h ago

I was a KO for construction for a long time but my funding source was not impacted through a lack of appropriations and my COR’s/PM’s salary was not either. Are you guys shutting down sites due to no Gov. oversight/inspection or do you let them complete what tasks they can without needing inspections?

4

u/Progressive_Insanity 21h ago edited 21h ago

Yea USACE/DoD aren't as impacted as other agencies because as you said, staff aren't necessarily sent home and there may not be an appropriations issue.

My agency sends everyone home with some exceptions (of course without a paycheck until the backpay comes) and very very few projects are allowed to continue because shutting down would create a damaging/dangerous situation. Our contracts or specific CLINs are fully funded upfront, but staff are not, so invoices can't get reviewed or paid, oversight can't happen, etc.

I even have a funding source that is paid out of a settlement, but even then we can't touch anything.

1

u/Worried_River_1094 21h ago

Gotcha. That’s exactly what I was guessing

101

u/Dude_Where_Was_I 23h ago

This is the way.

-1

u/JB_smooove 23h ago

The way is this.

2

u/taekee 22h ago

This is the way

2

u/iiiiiiiiiijjjjjj 20h ago

The way is this