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Federal law prohibits government employees from coming to work during the shutdown except for those needed in "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property."
So how does that amount to the roughly 60 percent of the federal workforce?
A 127-year-old law, the Antideficiency Act, bans the government from spending money, or incurring debts, that Congress hasn't approved. That means in a shutdown, federal employees cannot come to work and earn a salary, for which they would have to be paid.
Congress amended that law in 1990 to specify which federal employees would be granted exceptions and required to continue working to cover emergencies. The new law says emergencies worthy of an exception do not include "ongoing, regular functions of government, the suspension of which would not imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property."
A 1995 internal Justice Department legal memo said the law must be interpreted narrowly -- "only when a threat to life or property is imminent" and "of such a nature that immediate action is a necessary response to the situation."
It's an understatement to say the law has been read generously. "It's more a matter of custom than strict interpretation," says a former Justice Department official.
Broad exceptions are made for virtually the entire federal law enforcement, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, ICE, and CPB. Roughly 80% of employees in the Department of Homeland Security will stay on the job, including the Coast Guard and the Secret Service. Federal meat and poultry inspectors will report for duty as usual.
A White House official says the fact that more than half of all federal employees are considered exceptions is driven by "an increase in civilian DoD and DHS personnel, as well as new sources of funding outside of appropriations -- most notable, the Veterans Administration now gets advanced appropriations, so they stay open."
The Social Security Administration is also funded by an indefinite appropriation, so many of its employees will be expected to remain on the job.
Still, the fact that roughly 1.2 million of the nation's 2 million federal employees will be on the job after the shutdown seems a departure from what the Justice Department said in 1995, when it advised the White House that the emergency exception "applies only to cases of threat to human life or property where the threat can be reasonably said to be near at hand and demanding of an immediate response."
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Was'nt this same Thread Posted Yesterday by Carrie?
Who cares!
That's easy the Koch Brothers. Everyone should know by know the agenda comes out of the Kochtopus
Repeal Healthcare
deny climate change
fight wall street reform
keep corporate money in elections
forget the little people
she forgot one.
Dump the Incompetant in the White House in 2012
Steve--- Your thoughts tended to be more profound when all you posted was "Yawn". Less words to spell too! But keep at it, we all need a good laugh once in awhile.
If we are not going to continue to pay our military who protects are country....then tell me why congress and the president continues to get pay...they should also loose their pay until they can resolve this issue!!!
Won't work. Keep dreaming
Americans are sick of all the craziness from republi-clown/T- Bagger addictions.
Did you notice how republi-clown/T- Bagger Koch suckers suddenly, thought they could steal the election in Wisconsin?
Those tactics are going down because that and this is the beginning of the end of the Koch addiction error.
Beverly in Chicago
My goodness Bev, when are you going to get over the Koch Bros.? Focus on soros and the funds he generates for your libbie causes and feel better for yourself. You have to get over this love for the Kochs.
And when it comes to the crazies, how about those wackey Democrats that flaunt their responsibilities regarding budgets? So, it is appropriate for Obama/Pelosi/Reid to do NOTHING an be responsible to the masses? Critize the Republicans for forwarding a plan? Where is the Democratic budget plan Bev?
I am amazed at your and the progressive view and your hypocracity.............
Face it Bev, even the article today on MSNBC questions the ability of Obama to mediate a meaningful settlement to overcome the budget. Last minute Obie to the rescue, huh? Won' happen.
As for compromise, where we the Dems during ObieCare? A lot of compromise from your party there!
And for the elegant First Lady - she does need to visit her WH garden more. She also needs to pay someone for consultation on the proper dress for functions. Her approach to dressing like a teenager for formal functions is just wrong. The wife of POTUS needs to present a more proper image.
So Bev, how's that ObamaWar coming along for you? Still haven't commented on this query. Lost to find a libbie website that you can cut and paste from?
Come on, find something amusing.
Safecracker--- or do you just go by Cracker! The First ladies clothes? Have you no decency?
the handle is Safecracker, a profession enjoyed by many professionals. And no, I have no decency anymore.
So you believe having a belt under a shor sweater is appropriate for the First Lady when she is meeting foreign dignitaries?
So Tom in Yreka, how do you feel about the Moonbeam 2.0 budget? Or, if you would perfer to comment, how's that ObamaWar going for you?
This is all BS anyway, all this is going on in the news so the stupid people in the good ole USA won't pay any attention to what is killing them. The darn mini wars, worthless politicians that are over paid, greed / corrupttion and the ever rising fuel prices / energy prices. What they should be doing is nationalizing our oil and building refineries in this country. Investing is magnetic engines , hydrogen burning engines and other alternative resources that help americans. I don't give a dam about the oil companies or the muslims. Get ou troops home and let them plant produce or guard the borders. Get rid of homeland security as that is a total waste of money. The irs should be done away with and a straight sales tax invoked. Get out of united nations and the throwing away of billions ,if trillions of dollars. Quit policing the world and build a huge arsenal of nuke weapons for self defense. We can reduce the cost of living by getting the dead beat programs off the tax payers backs.
Hey FireCracker here is somthing amusing. Fact the dems agreed to the cuts the Repubs came up with. What they are not buying is the social issues that the Repugs tried to sneek in. And good for them social issued have no place in a budget bill. All your other babbling is off topic.
Rick,
Who really cares if I am off topic or not? There is a lot off-topic in any thread on site.
Have you actually read the Ryan proposal? If you want tax reform, you will find it in this budget proposal. Have the democrats or progressive traveling democrats proposed anything of substance?
So, how is that ObamaWar going for you, and are you happy to fund it?
Safecracker-- I'm sorry. You're right. Mrs. Obama should try to dress more like Barbara Bush
No Tom, but she shouldn't dress like a little kid either. Little girl sweaters and belts under the boobs. Really presents a good first image for the First Lady.
I agree with Bob. We wouldn't be in this mess right now if the Democratic controlled Congress and Senate would have passed the budget while they were in power. Nope, they were more concerned in getting themselves re-elected. Sorry a$$e$. Ried needs to step down and let someone else lead the Senate. He can't so anything but cry and make the same old statement. Obama, "The Kenyan" and his wifey need to go back to Kenya.
Not exactly. We wouldn't be in this mess if Republicans, who have voted to fund Planned Parenthood since the 1970s, through every administration and Congress, republican and democrat, had not suddenly decided to hold the federal government up for ransom based on the newly concocted lie that Planned Parenthood uses federal money for abortions.
A lot like the lie that President Obama was born in Kenya.
As for you and Bob, res ipsa loquitur. You deserve each other.
I remember that was how Oscar Schindler saved Jews from the Gas Chamber. By claiming they were "essential workers". Not what the Nazis called "useless eaters". Well, when it comes right down to it, I'm an "essential eater" any day of the week. So maybe the problem is figuring out who the "useless workers" are?