Assessing the Impact of the Partial Federal Government Shutdown

The partial federal government shutdown that began at midnight on December 21 continues, and will likely impact Georgia Tech as the new year begins, though the effects won’t be felt across the board.

Federal government agencies receive funding through a series of appropriations bills. A number of these bills, including those that fund the Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education, have been approved for the federal fiscal year that began in October. As a result, those agencies are not expected to be affected by the partial shutdown.

However, appropriations bills that support agencies such as the National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA, NIST, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce have expired. At Georgia Tech, the affected agencies accounted for approximately $130 million in expenditures for sponsored research in fiscal 2018.

Georgia Tech administrators have been meeting to assess the potential impact on campus and making contingency plans to manage the effects of the partial shutdown. For instance, principal investigators who are working on projects funded by the affected agencies are being asked to delay large-scale purchases and take other cost-conscious measures – such as deferring non-essential travel and non-personnel expenditures – until the impact of the partial shutdown is known.

Additional information about the partial shutdown and guidance for principal investigators can be found below:

Federal Government Shutdown Guidance
http://osp.gatech.edu/federal-government-shutdown-guidance

Government Shutdown FAQs
http://osp.gatech.edu/faqs-government-shutdown 

OSP News: Federal Government Shutdown Guidance
http://osp.gatech.edu/news 

Research News
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Media Relations Contact: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)