The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has directed federal agencies to begin notifying employees who will be furloughed if the government shuts down at midnight on Friday, senior administration officials said Thursday.
“We ramped up our planning and are making the prudent moves necessary to have an orderly shutdown in case it [should] come to that,” said Jeff Zients, director of management for the OMB. Federal budget director Jack Lew will formally instruct all agencies to begin preparing for a shutdown on Thursday afternoon.
“We still hope we do not have to execute those plans,” Zients said.
The administration supports reimbursing employees who would be furloughed in the case of a shutdown, he said.
Services critical to safety and protection of personal property would remain in operation if the government shut down. That includes airports and air traffic, military operations abroad and federal student aid.
Ticking off a list of agencies that would be closed, Zients said, “The impact on the economy would be felt immediately.”
