For members of Congress, it\u2019s crunch time to come up with a budget solution to keep the government open or risk a shutdown come Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The House of Representatives has a vote set for Tuesday afternoon on a renewed continuing resolution to keep the government open after the current stopgap bill expires on Nov. 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new fiscal year began on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., proposed a hybrid solution that would avoid a total shutdown by continuing funding for some agencies through Jan. 19 and others until Feb. 2, the Associated Press reported. <\/a>The idea has drawn criticism from the White House, per a statement<\/a> from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who called the measure \u201cunserious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though agencies are still a few days out from knowing whether a shutdown seems imminent, federal employees are used to this seemingly annual exercise. One of the more pressing concerns is whether civil servants will be paid if their agencies are forced to pare down operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The existing stopgap bill that\u2019s keeping agencies funded at last year\u2019s levels expires one day before the current two-week pay period ends. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n That means a lapse in funding beginning Saturday wouldn\u2019t impact paychecks for the Nov. 5 to Nov. 18 period, and processing for those checks should be completed as normal. However, employees who work on Saturday may not see those hours reflected in their paystub if a lapse occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How long a government shutdown would last is impossible to predict, but if it happens, the first paychecks that could be missed would be for the Nov. 19 to Dec. 2 pay period.<\/p>\n\n\n\t