The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance to federal agencies late Thursday night instructing managers on contingency plans for a government shutdown in case a deal isn’t struck by midnight on Friday evening.
While the White House is “deeply engaged in efforts to reach an agreement” and “it remains possible that Congress will reach an agreement by midnight tomorrow,” OMB Director Jacob J. Lew writes that “responsible management requires that we be prepared if there is a lapse in appropriations.”
Lew’s guidance says non-excepted employees will be “prohibited, after midnight on Friday night, from working remotely, such as from home — including by accessing agency information technology (e.g., Blackberries, cell phones, computers, laptops), except to the extent that the agency’s contingency plan provides for the agency to use such technology to provide non-excepted employees with updates regarding their furlough and return-to-work status.”
The memo is embedded below.