With less than a week left on the December 21^st deadline to reach a spending deal and avoid another government shutdown, tensions are high in Washington D.C.  On Tuesday, President Trump stated he would refuse to sign a spending bill that did not contain a $5 billion allocation for a border wall.  It is questionable, however, whether such a bill would pass in the House or Senate. Thus, it is possible we will see the third shutdown of certain government agencies in this presidential term.

As background, Congress previously approved, and President Trump signed into law, five spending bills providing funding for about 75 percent of the federal government, including defense, education, labor, health and human services, the legislative branch, energy and water, military construction, and veterans affairs.  There are still seven other spending bills that need legislative agreement, including those that provide funding for agriculture, commerce, justice, science, interior and environment, state and foreign operations, Homeland Security, financial services, general government, transportation, and housing and urban development. Thus, certain agencies (such as the EEOC) are still at risk of shutdown and according to a fact sheet released by the Senate Appropriations Committee staff, more than 420,000 essential government workers would be expected to work without pay if a partial shutdown occurs.   However, based on the previous funding agreements, even if there is a government shutdown, OFCCP (which is under the Department of Labor) will keep running.

So, while other agencies of the government may feel the effects of a government shutdown, OFCCP and the federal contractors they regulate, should not be impacted if a funding agreement is not reached.