House Speaker Paul Ryan announced earlier today that President Donald Trump will not sign a Senate-approved stopgap funding bill unless it includes border-wall funding, dramatically increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown. This would mark the third government shutdown of 2018.

Funding for nine federal departments, including the State, Justice, Transportation, and Agriculture departments will expire on December 21, 2018 if the bill is not signed. While not a total government shutdown like the one in January 2018, hundreds of thousands of employees will be furloughed.

With the likelihood of a shutdown increasing by the hour, lawyers and bloggers within the LexBlog network have provided their expertise, detailing impacts on immigration and healthcare, providing tips for government contractors, and outlining which programs will or will not be affected.

Here are their perspectives:


Potential Partial  Government Shutdown – What Government Contractors Need To Know – By Guy Brenner & Alex Weinstein, Proskauer Rose LLP

“During previous government shutdowns, government agencies and departments issued stop-work orders, grinding work on government projects and contracts to a halt.  Contractors were then faced with the difficult task of remaining in compliance with their obligations to their employees while work and funding for the contracts on which their employees worked had been suspended”… Read more


What Happens if the Government Shuts Down? Impact on Immigration ServicesBy Alka Bahal, Fox Rothschild LLP

“Such a shut down will impact immigration services across a number of different government agencies, affecting many of the systems and processes employers rely on to facilitate employment, including the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration-related components (CBP, ICE, USCIS, CIS Ombudsman), the Department of Justice (EOIR), and the Department of State.”…Read more


‘Tis the Season for Budget Negotiations: What is the Potential Impact of Another Government Shutdown on Healthcare? – By Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood, Jackson Lewis P.C.

“…The Food and Drug Administration would stop pharmaceutical testing; Drug Enforcement Administration agents would have to continue working as essential employees, but would have to wait until after the shutdown to receive a paycheck; and most of the National Science Foundation would close down”…Read more


Five Tips for Surviving Another Potential Government Shutdown  –  By David Y. Yang, Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker LLP

“A government shutdown can halt your incremental funding stream, delay other payments, preclude you from executing new contracts or modifying existing ones, impose logistical challenges such as closed government facilities or furloughed government employees who are your counterparts on a program, increase your costs (both direct and indirect), and delay or defer the exercise of contract options.  So, what can you do to weather the storm?”…Read more