Federal Shutdown Continues

Congress was unable to come to an agreement on a continuing resolution to keep the government operating and the previous continuing resolution expired at midnight on Jan. 19, without a new one in place. As a result, the federal government has shut down.

According to DOT’s shutdown assessment, FMCSA has sufficient funds on hand to continuing operating for a short term, so no employees will be furloughed. A lengthy shutdown may impact the agency. PHMSA, on the other hand, is impacted by the shutdown. However, safety operations will continue to occur, including emergency response, inspections and enforcement.

The Senate is scheduled to vote at noon today on another continuing resolution, this one through Feb. 8. If approved, the measure would then move to the House for a vote. However, neither party’s leadership has expressed support for the measure, which was developed by a bipartisan group of Senators. Democrats have stated they will not support a spending bill without resolution on immigration and Republicans have said they will not negotiate on immigration until the government is back up and running.