With the US government in just eight days to enter its 15th partial shutdown since 1981, Washington is in a familiar situation but there is an important difference: The Trump administration has not widely announced plans for which agencies will stop operations and which agencies will continue if Congress does not act.
This year's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has asked federal agencies to update contingency plans on how to operate if financial resources run out when the fiscal year ends on September 30.
During previous closures, areas such as air traffic control and law enforcement continued, while most employees at financial supervisors had to temporarily take a leave of absence.
These plans were previously announced weekly. However, as of September 22, the current version has not been widely shared with the National Assembly or the public, and the White House's website, which was dedicated to posting these plans, is still open.
The White House and OMB did not respond when asked whether these plans were made public or anything different from previous years.
The closures create great uncertainty for federal employees and local economies, Donald Snyderman, chief economic policy officer at the BPP, warned.
According to the Director, the plans to announce the government's closure will provide a clear view of who will continue to work with or without pay, and who will have to temporarily retire.
There is no substitute for clearly announcing these plans to see how the government will operate when it closes, Snyderman, who has worked at OMB for many US presidents, added.
