Overview and Initial Operations Using Carryover Funds
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its plan for an orderly agency shutdown in the event of a lapse in annual congressional appropriations. In the initial phase of any funding lapse, the Commission intends to remain open and maintain regular operations for a period of time relying on available carryover funds.
Agency employees will receive written instructions regarding the availability of prior-year carryover funding and will be instructed to report to work as usual until those funds are depleted. If carryover funds are exhausted and Congress has not resolved the appropriation lapse, the FCC will initiate shutdown procedures, which are estimated to take no more than four hours (half a day) to complete across the agency.
- Estimated pre-implementation agency workforce: 1,212 employees.
- Estimated time required to execute orderly shutdown: 4 hours (one half-day).
- Total employees retained during a full shutdown: approximately 243 (20%).
- Total employees subject to furlough: approximately 969 (80%).
Breakdown of Retained Personnel and Critical Functions
Under the Commission's shutdown framework, approximately 243 employees will be retained to perform statutory, constitutional, emergency, and non-lapsed functions. In addition, several categories of contracted support will continue to operate using funding obligated prior to any lapse.
- 4 Presidential appointees not subject to furlough: the FCC Chairman, two Commissioners, and the Inspector General.
- Up to 36 Office of Inspector General (OIG) personnel supported by carryover funding.
- Up to 124 employees whose compensation is financed outside annual appropriations, supporting spectrum auctions, Chairman regulatory priorities, and strategic transactions.
- Up to 45 employees retained to protect life and property, staffing the 24-hour and 18-hour operations at the FCC Operations Center, High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) Center, and network reliability/outage incident response.
- Up to 4 strategically located employees dedicated to interference detection, mitigation, and disaster response operations.
- Up to 16 employees responsible for facility security, critical IT infrastructure protection, and oversight of excepted activities.
- Up to 4 employees supporting treaty-related activities and preparation for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (WRC-27).
- Up to 5 employees certifying Universal Service Fund (USF) and Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) disbursements.
- 1 employee operating designated emergency relief or national security programs.
- Up to 4 employees retained temporarily to process administrative shutdown tasks, such as timesheets.
Contractor Support During a Lapse
The FCC will retain designated contractor personnel funded through non-lapsing resources or obligated prior-year contracts to maintain cybersecurity, IT networks, and physical facility security across its headquarters and field sites.
- 18 full-time IT contractors for 24/7 network and system monitoring.
- 18 full-time IT contractors for network, system, and application cybersecurity monitoring.
- 16 full-time IT contractors for auction-related operations, plus 3 IT contractors for Section 508 compliance and IV&V testing.
- 12 Federal Protective Service (FPS) contracted security guards at FCC Headquarters (4 on post per shift).
- 2 FPS contracted field security guards in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and 1 security guard in Columbia, Maryland.
- 7 full-time facility services contractors.
Continuing and Suspended Commission Activities
During a shutdown, all FCC activities not directly tied to excepted life-and-property protections, constitutional functions, or alternative non-lapsed funding mechanisms will cease immediately.
Equipment authorization processing that does not require staff support or pre-approval guidance will continue, whereas authorizations requiring active agency intervention will be suspended alongside broader regulatory and licensing workflows.
- Continuing: Operations Center emergency response, HFDF antenna operations, spectrum auction administration, Supply Chain Reimbursement Program, USF and TRS disbursement certifications, OIG carryover work, and WRC-27 preparations.
- Suspended: Consumer complaint and inquiry phone line responses.
- Suspended: Consumer protection and local competition enforcement proceedings.
- Suspended: Broadcast, wireless, and wireline licensing services.
- Suspended: Spectrum management and rulemaking proceedings for new competitive services.
- Suspended: Equipment authorizations requiring FCC pre-approval guidance or active staff evaluation.
Orderly Shutdown Procedures and Resumption of Work
When furloughs are triggered, employees not designated as exempt or excepted will receive a written notice of furlough via email. Staff must complete standard shutdown protocols, including securing paper and electronic files at office and telework stations, canceling official travel, training, and meetings, posting out-of-office notifications on voicemail and email, and halting normal duties within four hours.
Upon enactment of an appropriations measure or continuing resolution, personnel are directed to return to work on their next regularly scheduled workday. Supervisors will retain discretion to approve accrued leave, compensatory time, or credit hours for employees experiencing difficulties returning immediately.