HHS Unveils Government Shutdown Contingency Plan

HHS has issued an updated contingency plan in case government funding runs out this week, covering FDA operations in case Congress fails to pass a stopgap measure funding the federal government from Oct. 1 through Dec. 3.

The White House Office of Management and Budget last week instructed federal agencies to prepare contingency plans if a continuing resolution wasn’t passed by Sept. 30, the final day of fiscal 2021.

The FDA’s contingency plan for fiscal 2022 anticipates that 69 percent of its staff, 12,700, would continue to work ― because their positions have already been funded or are exempt from furlough or because their jobs are deemed essential for human safety.