As of October 1, the federal government has officially shut down after Congress failed to pass a funding bill before the start of the new fiscal year. Funding for most federal programs and services lapsed at midnight, triggering the suspension of non-essential operations and the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal employees. This update provides an overview of how the shutdown of Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) operations might affect communications providers.

Timing: Unlike prior government shutdowns, where the FCC used surplus funds from prior appropriations or alternative sources to remain operational for extended periods, the FCC’s plan contemplates a more immediate and substantial curtailment of activity. Non-essential employees will be given a half-day to cancel travel plans, reschedule meetings, set out-of-office notices, etc. By the end of the day, only essential personnel and personnel funded by other sources will be working.  

What Will Cease: Of the approximately 1,288 employees at the agency before the shutdown, only 244 (roughly 19%) will remain at work. These include personnel whose compensation is funded through non-lapsing sources, those performing activities mandated by law, and those necessary to protect life, property, or fulfill constitutional duties (i.e., the Commissioners themselves). The remaining 81% of staff will be furloughed. At this time, there is no indication that the FCC plans to permanently fire any employees, as the White House is reportedly considering doing at other government departments or agencies.  

The following is a non-exhaustive list of operations that will be suspended:  licensing, consumer complaint response, consumer protection and other enforcement, and equipment authorization.  

What Remains Functional: As with all things bureaucratic, the machinery will not all grind to a halt. The FCC will continue operations necessary to protect life or property, and a variety of other operations. This includes:

• spectrum auctions;
• the Supply Chain Reimbursement program;
• international treaty-related work, including preparation for WRC 2027;
• certification of Universal Service Fund and Telecommunications Relay Services disbursements, and 
• certain OIG operations.

Notably: Federal Universal Service Fund operations, including Lifeline, E-Rate, RHC and High-Cost operations, are funded by the USF contributions and are not appropriated. Therefore, USAC will remain open and operational, and funding will be disbursed.

Further, most FCC electronic systems will remain operational and continue to accept filings. This includes comment filings (ECFS), outage filings (NORS, DIRS), the Public Safety Support Center (PSSC), the Broadband Data Collection (BDC), and the National Broadband Map. Many, however, will not offer public support.

Filing Deadlines: Because the FCC will be closed, any filings that come due during the shutdown will not be due. The FCC waived the filing deadline (which would normally apply on the next business day) until the day after the day the FCC resumes full operations. For example, if funding is restored on a Monday, the FCC will resume normal operations on Tuesday, and all filings that were due during the shutdown would be due on Wednesday. (This extension does not apply to outage filings via NORS or DIRS, however.)

In enforcement matters involving individual parties, this extension will not apply. Therefore, according to the FCC, if any responsive enforcement deadline falls on a date when operations are suspended, the responsive deadline still applies absent direction from the FCC Enforcement Bureau. For tolling agreements in effect, the terms of a tolling agreement should be consulted to determine the effect a government shutdown has on the tolling period.

Finally, except for filings where business days are counted, the shutdown will not affect the calculation of the terminal date for an FCC filing, i.e., the 30-day or 60-day periods for certain filings. The FCC is not currently extending comment periods in rulemaking matters, but will consider any necessary extensions at a later date.

Clients should be aware that, absent the availability of prior year funds, the FCC will not be able to (at least temporarily) maintain normal operations as it has in some previous shutdowns. We recommend planning for delays in licensing, equipment authorizations, and other regulatory matters. Please contact us with any questions regarding how the shutdown may affect your specific FCC-related activities.