White House aides are preparing for a shutdown next week, if budget negotiations fail in Congress.
The White House released information to reporters on Friday, announcing that the Office of Management and Budget was taking steps to prepare for any lapse in federal appropriations.
“While we do not expect a lapse, prudence and common sense require routine assessments to be made,” Director of Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney announced on a paper handout made available to reporters.
The idea is not new to the federal government, as federal offices drafted government shutdown plans in August 2015. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced that the plans were required steps and a routine part of interagency communications.
“We remain confident we’re not going to have a shutdown,” Spicer said.
Congress will return from Easter break next week, facing an April 28 deadline to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open.
A White House official noted that they “strongly believes a lapse should not — and will not — occur,” but said that the preparations were a result of “prudent management.”
The Office of Management and Budget orders agencies to develop and maintain plans for a government shut down, asking them to submit and review a plan every two years.
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