With the government shutdown still in place, it is difficult to know precisely what space policy events will take place in the coming week, but here is what we know right now.  The House and Senate will be in session trying to find a solution to the situation.

During the Week

As the partial government shutdown enters its third week and the deadline for exceeding the $16.7 trillion debt limit nears — Thursday is the day according to current estimates — the good news is that the rhetoric in Washington has cooled even if there is no deal yet.  

Here’s the state of play as of Sunday afternoon as best as we can tell from a wide variety of news reports.  

Despite hopeful signs on Thursday after a meeting with a small group of House Republicans, the President rejected the proposal they ultimately sent him because they were not willing to negotiate over raising revenues (taxes), only on spending cuts and entitlement reform.  For the past three years, President Obama has consistently insisted that any discussions of reducing the deficit include both spending cuts and revenue increases.  Republicans just as consistently insist that they will not agree to any revenue increases.

The President met with Senate Republicans on Friday, and with the House Republican proposal off the table, attention has shifted to the Senate.   A proposal developed under the leadership of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) looked promising, but Senate Democratic leaders rejected it yesterday, the same day that Republicans defeated a Democratic proposal to extend the debt limit.   The debt limit does not permit additional spending; it allows the government to borrow money to pay bills it already owes.

The Democratic proposal, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), would have raised the debt limit by $1 trillion until December 31, 2014, past next year’s mid-term congressional elections.  It did not address the issue of reopening the government.   A motion to bring to the bill to the floor was rejected on a party line vote 53-45; 60 yes votes were needed.

The Republican proposal did not even get that far before being rejected by Senate Democratic leaders.  Collins put forward a draft plan that included funding the government for six months and raising the debt limit until January 31.  However, the six months of government funding would have been at a lower spending level than Democrats want.   The three important numbers are:  $967 billion, how much money the government could spend in FY2014 under the sequester; $986 billion, the amount of money the government could spend in FY2013 under the sequester and, under a typical Continuing Resolution (CR), would be the level at which spending continues until FY2014 appropriations bills are passed; and $1.058 trillion, the funding level approved by the Senate in its Budget Resolution this spring that does not take account of the sequester, which Democrats want to replace with another means of deficit reduction.   The Collins proposal was for six months of spending apparently at the $967 billion level, not the current $986 billion level, and Senate Democrats were willing to settle only for the $986 billion figure and for a shorter time period.   

The Collins proposal also would have delayed a medical device tax that is part of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) for two years and required income verification to qualify for subsidies under that Act, as well as given agencies more flexibility in applying sequester-related funding cuts and set up a conference committee to work out a long term plan.  It was the spending level, however, that reportedly torpedoed the proposal.  There was no guarantee that House Republicans would agree with the Collins’ plan either, but for a few days it did look like the Senate might reach some sort of consensus with that as its core.  Collins told CNN this morning that she remains optimistic that the situation will be resolved this week and some parts of her plan will be included.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says that the debt limit will be reached Thursday and must be raised or suspended by then or the government will default on its debts.   House Speaker John Boehner said a week ago that he would not allow the government to default, so perhaps that deadline will force consensus, but it is far from certain.  The Senate remains in session today; the House returns tomorrow.

Sunday-Saturday, October 13-19

• Earth Science Week  INFORMATION STILL CAN  BE ACCESSED AT ITS WEBSITE, BUT EVENTS ARE POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER THE SHUTDOWN

Monday-Thursday, October 14-17

• Reinventing Space Conference (also known as the Responsive Space Conference), Los Angeles, CA  WILL TAKE PLACE WITH MODIFIED AGENDA

Tuesday, October 15

• WSBR Luncheon Featuring Steve Collar, O3b, University Club, Washington, DC, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET  STILL ON TRACK AS FAR AS WE KNOW
• ISC-DC Space Cafe Featuring John Logsdon, GWU, The Science Club, 1135 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC, 7:00 pm ET  STILL ON TRACK

Wednesday-Thursday, October 16-17

• International Symposium on Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS), Las Cruces, NM  STILL TAKING PLACE AT THIS POINT, PRESUMABLY WITH MODIFIED AGENDA IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

As the partial government shutdown ends its eleventh day, there still is no deal to either reopen the government or raise the debt limit.   All sides, however, are using their public words to convey that they are working together to find a solution, even if currently there are several conflicting proposals out there.

President Obama met with Senate Republicans today, completing a set of meetings over the past three days with, separately, House Democrats, House Republicans (though only a small hand-picked group participated), Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans.  

Yesterday, House Republicans proposed raising the debt limit for 6 weeks (until November 22) with no deal on reopening government.   Today, they revised their proposal to add a two-track approach to dealing with the other issues:  parallel negotiations where one track would focus on FY2014 spending and the other on broader budget issues including entitlement reform, tax reform, and spending cuts.   President Obama reportedly spoke with House Speaker Boehner late this afternoon and indicated that he would not agree to the revised proposal because he also wants revenue increases to be part of the discussions.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats reject the idea of a 6-week debt limit increase because they do not want to end up having this same debate next month.  They are working on a proposal that may be voted on tomorrow to raise the debt limit by $1 trillion through December 2014, past next year’s congressional elections.  It also would not reopen government.  Senate Republicans, led by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), are crafting a proposal to reopen the government for 6 or 12 months, raise the debt ceiling, and repeal or delay a tax of medical devices that is part of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  The medical device tax is widely unpopular in both parties and the President reportedly agreed today that it is not a core element of that law.

All parties plan to work through the weekend.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing today on the economic impact of the shutdown.   Marion Blakey, President of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), and Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), were two of the witnesses.   Not surprisingly, they tesified that the shutdown is having widespread, negative impacts on aerospace and scientific research.  

SpacePolicyOnline.com has published a summary of the hearing.

Note:  This article was updated on October 12, 2013 adding a link to SpacePolicyOnline.com’s summary of the October 11 hearing.

On this tenth day of the partial government shutdown, the possibility that the government may be forced to default on its debt next week has taken center stage instead.   House Republicans are proposing a temporary agreement to raise the debt limit.  It would not end the government shutdown and would last for only 6 weeks.  Early indications are that as long as the bill avoids partisan policy issues, the President likely would sign it even though it would do nothing to reopen the government.

President Obama met with all House Democrats yesterday and is meeting with House Republicans today, though Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) declined the President’s request to meet with all House Republicans and instead only 18 will participate in this afternoon’s meeting.

This morning, the House Republican Conference agreed to a new proposal from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to raise the debt limit until November 22.   A House vote could occur this afternoon, but not until after the meeting with the President.  Boehner said that the President’s reaction to this proposal will determine what happens next.  The President has been insisting that House Republicans raise the debt limit and reopen government before he will negotiate on issues such as entitlement reform, tax reform, future government spending, and changes to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

“It is our hope that the president will look at this as an opportunity and a good-faith effort on our part to move halfway, halfway to what he’s demanded in order to have these conversations begin,” Boehner said after the House Republican Conference meeting this morning.

The Associated Press quotes White House spokesman Jay Carney as saying early this afternoon that the President “would likely sign” a bill that only increases the debt limit temporarily as long as it does not include “partisan strings,” and cautioning that the White House has not yet seen the House Republican proposal.  The White House apparently is sticking to its guns that it will not negotiate on other issues until the government is reopened, but will be somewhat more flexible in order to avoid a default.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are intent on passing a long-term extension to the debt limit.   They want to raise the debt limit by $1 trillion through December 2014, past the mid-term congressional elections that will take place next year.  A vote on that bill is scheduled for Saturday, but whether there are sufficient votes for it to pass is uncertain.  That bill also would not reopen the government.

The current debt limit is $16.7 trillion, which Treasury Department officials say will be reached next week — around October 17.  Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew testified to the Senate Finance Committee this morning listing the “potentially catastrophic impacts” of failing to increase the debt limit, which include “credit market disruptions, a significant loss in the value of the dollar, markedly elevated U.S. interest rates, negative spillover effects to the global economy, and real risk of a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”

The debt limit is the amount of money the government can borrow to pay bills it already owes.  It does not allow for additional spending.  Spending is permitted through appropriations bills and other laws that provide benefits (often called entitlements) such as Social Security and Medicare.  Republicans and Democrats have been at odds for years over how to reduce the deficit (the difference between how much money the government brings in versus how much it spends).  Republicans want to reduce it only by cutting spending, while Democrats wants a combination of spending cuts and revenue (tax) increases.  The deficit debate is about future spending, however.  The debt limit debate is about paying the bills for laws that Congresses passed and presidents signed in the past.

 

 

Another day, another lack of progress in solving the impasse over the FY2014 budget.   There was some good news, as most DOD civilians got to go back to work today and industry furloughs at two companies consequently were reduced, but on the other hand, almost 60 percent of employees at the Aerospace Corporation are being sent home.

Lockheed Martin still is furloughing 2,400 workers, but that is fewer than the 3,000 announced last week. The company said 2,100 of the 2,400 work on civilian agency programs and the rest on DOD programs; they are in 27 states, but mostly in the Washington, D.C. area.

The reduction in Lockheed Martin furloughs was possible because of DOD’s broad interpretation of a week-old law that allowed most DOD civilian workers to return to work today.  Similarly, United Technologies cancelled a furlough of thousands of workers it announced last week.  Those employees were going to be furloughed because Defense Contract Management Agency inspectors were furloughed and unable to inspect manufacturing processes as required.  Under the new law, however, the inspectors have been recalled so manufacturing can resume.

The news was not so good for the Aerospace Corporation, though.  A Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) that assures mission success for Air Force space programs (e.g., launches), Aerospace started a partial work shutdown on October 3, with 2,000 of its 3,500 workers sent home.  Only those working on “excepted mission critical tasks” may continue working.  Aerospace’s President and CEO Wanda Austin issued a statement today reassuring employees that “corporate senior leadership is fully engaged with our customers to minimize the adverse impacts” from the shutdown and ready to “immediately take action to bring people back to work as soon as we are permitted to do so.”

Other aerospace companies do not appear to have issued press releases about the status of their workers, but on Friday Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President Marion Blakey warned about the impact of an extended shutdown on the aerospace industry, calling the shutdown “a tragic mistake.”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama continued their verbal sparring matches today.   Reid and Obama are challenging Boehner to bring a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) — one that is devoid of political issues and simply funds the government — to the floor of the House for a vote.  Boehner said yesterday there are an insufficient votes to pass such a bill, but Boehner and Obama insist there are.   Obama said today that Boehner should “prove” whether he’s right or not by permitting the bill to come to a vote.  At the moment, there are 232 Republicans and 200 Democrats in the House (with three vacancies).   If all Democrats voted yes, 17 Republicans would also have to vote yes in order for the bill to pass.  The President and Reid believe that at least that many Republicans would, in fact, vote yes.

Boehner also said yesterday that he will not bring a clean bill to the floor to raise the debt limit.  That seems to contradict a statement he made last week asserting that he would not let the nation default on its debt.  The Treasury Department says the nation will exhaust its ability to pay its bills about October 17.   As many point out, raising the debt limit simply allows the government to pay the bills it already has incurred; it does not allow for any additional spending.  However, some Republicans having been seeking Democratic concessions on future spending in return for their votes to raise the debt limit and it now appears that others may be trying to tie the debt limit issue to the debate over the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) as well. 

One can only hope that more productive discussions among the parties are taking place behind the scenes than in front of the television cameras.

UPDATE, October 7, 2013:  The NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board meeting on Oct. 10-11 has been added, along with a note about the Hosted Payload Summit, which apparently is on track.

ORIGINAL STORY, October 6.  The following events may be of interest in the week ahead, though with the government shutdown, it’s really unclear as to which of these will actually take place.   The House and Senate will be in session hopefully trying to find a solution to the impasse.

During the Week

There is no sign of compromise at the moment, so how long the government shutdown will continue is anyone’s guess.  The House and Senate will be in session this week as they were last week, but no one seems to be giving ground so far.

The following list of events of interest, therefore, is tentative.   The government-sponsored meetings of advisory committees surely will be cancelled if the shutdown continues, but since their websites are down, there is no way to confirm that.  Meetings and conferences sponsored by non-government organizations seem to be proceeding with revised agendas that work around the lack of government speakers. 

The American Astronautical Society has done an impressive job of substituting non-government speakers for its Von Braun Symposium in Huntsville, for example, and it will webcast the first morning (Tuesday, October 8) of the conference.  This week’s American Astronomical Society’s Division on Planetary Science (DPS) meeting in Denver also is on track, although “agency night” on Tuesday is likely to be affected if the shutdown continues.   The website for the Hosted Payload Summit in Washington does not provide any information about its status; the agenda has a mix of government and private sector speakers.

Sunday-Friday, October 6-11

• American Astronomical Society Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS), Denver, CO  TAKING PLACE with modified agenda

Monday-Thursday, October 7-10

• American Astronautical Society Von Braun Symposium, Huntsville, AL  WILL TAKE PLACE with modified agenda
  • October 7 is an evening reception; October 10 is a post-conference tour
  • October 8-9 are conference sessions; the morning of October 8 will be webcast

Tuesday-Wednesday, October 8-9

• NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Committee, Washington, DC  ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

Wednesday, October 9

• Hosted Payload Summit, Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm ET  CONFERENCE ORGANIZER CONFIRMS THIS WILL TAKE PLACE

Wednesday-Thursday, October 9-10

• FAA COMSTAC, Washington, DC ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

Thursday-Friday, October 10-11

• NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), NRC Keck Center, 500 Fifth St., N.W., Washington, DC  WILL TAKE PLACE WITH MODIFIED AGENDA

Friday, October 11

• NASA Aerospace Safety Adv Panel (ASAP), Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time (11:00 am – 12:00 pm Eastern)  ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE CANCELLED IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

 

 

 

While there was no progress today in resolving the issues that led to the government shutdown, federal employees and defense contractors got a little bit of good news. 

A large portion of civilian DOD employees are being called back to work on Monday and some defense contractors may also be able to be paid.  Separately,  the House passed a bill to ensure that furloughed federal employees will eventually be paid.

The House and Senate both were in session today and both have now gone home until Monday.  The House continued to work on several narrowly focused bills to fund specific federal activities.  Senate Democrats and President Obama have rejected that tactic overall, insisting that the entire government must be allowed to return to work.  

However, on the eve of the shutdown last Monday, all parties agreed to a bill through which military servicemembers will be paid during the shutdown rather than having to wait until the situation is resolved.   That law, the Pay Our Military Act, included other language and today Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that DOD lawyers have interpreted it broadly to allow Hagel to call back to work a large portion of the 350,000-400,000 civilian DOD employees who were furloughed.  The law also allows the Secretary of Defense to pay contractors providing support to members of the Armed Services in active service.

Hagel is recalling civilian workers under a provision of the law that says civilian personnel “whom the Secretary … determines are providing support to members of the Armed Forces” may be paid.  Some news sources are reporting that he is recalling everyone, but his memo does not say that.  Instead Hagel writes that “I fervently hope that the time will be short until I can recall all employees” of DOD.   He also points out that the law allows personnel to be paid, but does not provide funds to purchase equipment or supplies, for example, so if the shutdown continues for an extended period, the time may come when “workers are unable to do their work [and] I will be forced to send them home again.” 

While many DOD civilian employees are being called back to work, there are another 400,000-500,000 furloughed federal employees who are not and have no guarantee of ever being paid.  However, today the House passed the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act by a vote of 407-0 (with 25 members not voting) that says furloughed feds will be paid — eventually.  They will have to wait until the government resumes operations, but if the bill is agreed by the Senate and the President, they can at least rest a little easier that the money will be there at some point.  The Senate adjourned for the day without taking up the bill, but the White House praised it in a Statement of Administration Policy.

As if a government shutdown and looming debt crisis weren’t enough, Washington had a dose of a very different kind of high drama today as a woman took Secret Service and Capitol Hill police on a high speed chase from the White House to Capitol Hill and ultimately was killed by police officers.

The prospects for the House and the Senate reaching any kind of resolution today were slim to begin with, but the mid-afternoon incident that suspended congressional proceedings as the Capitol was placed on lockdown after shots were fired in two locations on the Capitol grounds, contributed to the tension pervading Washington.   As of this hour, authorities have identified the 34-year-old woman from Connecticut who allegedly first tried to enter the White House grounds and then led Secret Service agents on a high speed chase across town to Capitol Hill, but do not know her motive.

Congress resumed operations after the lockdown was lifted and business returned to the current normal of gridlock.  No substantive progress was made on getting the government back to work — many are pointing out the Secret Service and Capitol police officers responding to today’s crisis are all working while not being paid — or dealing with the debt limit.

A couple of interesting developments did occur, however.

• House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) reportedly said that he would not permit the government to default.  At least as important as keeping the government operating is the issue of the debt limit, which Treasury officials expect to reach around October 17.  The fear of a government default worries Wall Street, among others, and Boehner’s statement offers hope that he is willing to bring to the House floor a bill to either suspend or raise the debt limit.   If all Democrats vote for it, only a small percentage of Republican votes are needed for it to pass.  While Boehner prefers to bring bills to the floor only if he knows that a majority of his Republican Caucus will vote yes — the so-called “Hastert rule” after former Speaker Dennis Hastert who reputedly initiated it, though he disavowed it today — he has done so in rare instances.   As a note of caution, however, Boehner also had indicated that he did not want a government shutdown, but in the final analysis, sided with Tea Party Republicans, which led that to result.
• Grover Norquist, who created the pledge that most Republicans have signed that they will never raise taxes and who is dedicated to reducing government spending, publicly criticized Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is at the center of the government shutdown.  Cruz’s determination to link government funding with delaying or defunding the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is why agreement has not been reached to fund the government for a few weeks while debate continues on political issues.  Cruz has been criticized by many fellow Republicans for his tactics, but adding Norquist to the list may give some Republicans relief that if they break with the current Republican stance, they may not be endangering their chances for reelection.  Norquist told Ezra Klein of the Washington Post that Cruz “pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away.”

The challenge ahead, however, was captured by a quote from Tea Party Republican Rep. Martin Stutzman (R-IN), who told The Washington Examiner “We’re not going to be disrespected. We have to get something out of this [shutdown].  And I don’t know what that even is.”

No signs of compromise emerged today in the showdown over FY2014 government funding.  The government remains in partial shutdown status, with only the military and excepted activities continuing.  A meeting at the White House between the President and congressional leaders in late afternoon was unproductive.

Republicans, especially in the House, insist that funding the government be tied to a delay in implementing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which actually went into effect yesterday — the government shutdown notwithstanding.

Democrats continue to insist that Congress pass a “clean” Continuing Resolution (CR) devoid of political issues that only funds the government.  Senate Democrats have been seeking a CR that lasts through November 15, so the debate is over just 6 weeks worth of funding.

Another showdown is imminent over raising the debt limit, which is expected to reach its $16.7 trillion cap around October 17.   Some Democrats now want to link a CR for FY2014 with raising or suspending the debt limit, dealing with both issues simultaneously.

Meanwhile, House Republicans renewed an approach that failed yesterday, bringing narrowly written bills that would fund specific government activities to the floor of the House for a vote.   The three bills introduced yesterday — funding the Smithsonian and other government museums and National Parks, funding the District of Columbia (DC), and funding the Department of Veterans Affairs — were brought up under an expedited procedure called suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority. None passed. 

They were brought up again today along with two more under regular procedures where only a majority vote is required.  The two new bills would fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pay members of the National Guard and reserves during the shutdown.  This time, three of the bills passed — to fund NIH, DC, and the museums and National Parks.   What their fate will be in the Senate is unclear. The White House issued a Statement of Administration policy today saying the President would veto such bills as they are “not a serious or responsible way” to run the government.

President Obama met with the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate for 90 minutes at the White House late this afternoon, but no progress was made.

The situation really is in the hands of the American people.   If they complain loudly enough, their elected leaders are likely to respond, but although there are polls indicating that most Americans object to tying government funding to the political goal of delaying or defunding Obamacare, there was no march on Washington today demanding change.  Those polls also show a not insignificant minority support the House Republicans’ current stance.   A Quinnipiac University poll today, for example, found 72 percent of Americans oppose the shutdown as a way to delay or defund Obamacare, but 22 percent do not.  The poll also found that 64 percent do not want Congress to block an increase in the debt limit as a method of opposing Obamacare, but 27 percent do.

Government Executive published statistics today showing that 98 percent of NASA workers have been furloughed, which is not the record.  The National Science Foundation furloughed 99 percent of its workforce.  The agencies with the fewest furloughs are those engaged in public safety and security such as the Department of Homeland Security (14 percent) and the Justice Department (16 percent).  The Department of Defense has furloughed 50 percent of its civilian workforce.   Military personnel are still on the job.