Small Wars Journal

DOD Government Shutdown Guidance

Thu, 04/07/2011 - 5:47pm
Deputy Defense Secretary Releases Shutdown Guidance

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 -- The Defense Department is hopeful that a government shutdown will be averted, but is releasing guidance to help plan for an orderly process if a shutdown becomes necessary, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said in a memo issued today.

"The president and the [Defense] Secretary [Robert M. Gates] know that the uncertainty of the current situation puts federal employees in a difficult position and are very much aware that a shutdown would impose hardships on our military and civilian personnel as well as our military families," Lynn wrote.

Operations and activities essential to safety and to protect human life and property will not be shut down, he wrote.

Addressing duty status, Lynn wrote that military personnel are not subject to furlough and should report for duty during a shutdown. Civilian personnel performing excepted activities will continue to work during a shutdown, he wrote.

The Defense Department will continue to conduct activities in support of national security, Lynn wrote, including operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan, as well as Libya-related support operations and other activities essential to national security.

Continuing operations include the following, Lynn wrote:

-- Inpatient and emergency outpatient care in DOD medical treatment facilities and emergency dental care;

-- Dining facilities and child-care activities;

-- Some legal activities, and contracting and logistics operations supporting excepted activities;

-- Some education and training activities, including Department of Defense Education Activity schools, and some financial management activities.

"In the absence of appropriations, non-excepted activities that have not already been fully funded will need to be shut down in an orderly fashion," Lynn wrote.

He will issue more detailed guidance to the department regarding specific activities that are considered excepted or non-excepted. Lynn wrote that he understands the military departments, defense agencies and individual commanders must tailor this guidance to many different situations around the world.

"Therefore, should there be a government shutdown, DOD personnel will be informed through their chain of command about how a shutdown may affect them personally," he wrote.

On the topic of military, civilian and retiree pay, Lynn said if the government shuts down because of a lack of funding, DOD will have no funds to pay military members or civilian employees for the days during which the government is shut down.

But military and civilian personnel will receive pay for time worked before the shutdown, he said, and military personnel and civilians in excepted positions will be paid retroactively for their work during the shutdown once the department receives additional funding.

"Congress would have to provide authority in order for the department to retroactively pay non-excepted employees for the furloughed period," Lynn wrote.

Benefits for military retirees and annuitants should continue without interruption, he added.

More:

Potential U.S. Government Shutdown - DOD Web Page

Message to DOD Workforce on Potential Government Shutdown - DOD

Potential Impact of a Lapse in Appropriations on Federal Employees - OPM

Officials Discuss DOD's Government Shutdown Plans - AFPS

Agency-by-Agency Shutdown Details - Washington Post

Shutdown 2011: What to Expect - Washington Post

Shutdown Could Affect Young Troops Most, Gates Says - AFPS

No Agreement on U.S. Budget Deal Day Before Government Shutdown - VOA

Progress on Budget Fight, but No Deal Yet - New York Times

No Deal After Latest White House Budget Talks - Washington Post

Troops' Pay Would be Withheld Until Shutdown Resolved - Stars and Stripes

Budget Fight Could Delay Troops' Pay - New York Times

Shutdown Weighs Heavily on Off-base Residents - Stars and Stripes

Gates Tells Troops in Iraq Paychecks May Not Come - Stars and Stripes

Government Shutdown: How it Will Affect Veterans - Stars and Stripes

Comments

If we can become as self sufficient as possible a shutdown won't affect us as much and even though no one can totally get away from the inconveniences, not being so dependent on the government is a great help to those that aren't on welfare and medicare.

pjmunson

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:04pm

K.L., Agreed, but this budget really does very little toward that end and the budgetary piece of the argument is already hashed out. They're fighting over policy riders now. The bill will only cut about $34.5 billion and we're spending something on the order of $9 billion a day. In other words, it is a sham. These two parties will not cut our deficit until a crisis shakes up politics severely.

Anonymous (not verified)

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 9:09am

Via the Wall Street Journal: <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/07/credit-union-to-advance-pay-fo… Union to Advance Pay for Military Customers</a>. The Navy Federal Credit Union, the countrys largest credit union, said Thursday it would cover the April 15 direct-deposit paychecks of its military customers even if theres a government shutdown...

K L (not verified)

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 8:20am

I, personaly, do not mind waiting on my paycheck if it means we can start paring down our deficit. But I can afford to skip a few paychecks.

My Soldiers, on the other hand, and their families will feel this. It's difficult for a young private or specialist with a family to make ends meet even with a steady paycheck.

pjmunson

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 2:14am

A lot of people spend like there is no tomorrow because there may not be or it feels like tomorrow will suck. It is hard to scrimp and forgo buying the kids something or going on that vacation with another deployment coming up, and another, and another.

The older and more senior servicemembers should be able to get through this fine, but it is a travesty for the young backbone of our military.

bumperplate

Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:01am

I am assuming there will be quite the news story if we have any fallen service members during a time when that/those service members are due to receive no pay.

I think what our politicians are doing is utterly despicable. But, perhaps there is a bright side to this. Perhaps this situation will provide to all service members that the majority of us need to do a better job with our budgeting, spending, etc, so that we can weather these types of situations. Currently I don't think most of us in uniform do that well enough.

pjmunson

Thu, 04/07/2011 - 11:36pm

Every military leader should be writing their senators and representative as a citizen and voter about what they are doing to our troops. They and the President will continue to receive their pay (regardless of their media statements that they shouldn't), while our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan will be fighting and dying while their families go unpaid. This is an outrage of senseless partisan politics. They need to hear about the mess we are going to have to deal with in our ranks if the pay is turned off. Our troops' finances are often fragile enough without this sort of wrench and this is the last thing someone going out on a patrol or sortie should have to worry about.