Commander details possible government shutdown

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The federal government's Fiscal Year 2013 budget has been exhausted and there is still a possibility of a governmental shutdown as Congress has neither signed a new fiscal year budget nor passed a continuing resolution.  In a recent podcast, Joint Region Marianas commander Rear Admrial Tilghman Payne briefly talked about the potential impact of the governmental shutdown.

"Civilians will be faced with a shutdown furlough as of October 1 unless their billet provides an accepted function to save life and property," he announced. "We're still sorting through what all that means and awaiting additional guidance but the recent furlough in July is probably a good template of what duties and responsibilities will be exempt."

Servicemembers would continue to report as schedule but would not be paid until Congress approves the fund to do so.

Rear Admiral Payne added that this is not the first time Joint Region Marianas civilians and military members have faced this sort of a challenge and thanked them for their service, patience and perseverance.

We should note that DODEA Pacific leadership announced today that students will not be impacted by a potential government shutdown.