Shutdown Showdown. (Beltway Buzz - January 19, 2018)

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what's happening in Washington, D.C. could impact your business.

Shutdown Showdown. Trying to keep track of the media reports on the negotiations being conducted to avoid a government shutdown has the Buzz feeling as confused as Lou Costello in his famous routine with his partner Bud Abbott ("What?" "Why?" "Who said what?"). Standing in the way of a funding bill are matters like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) fix and funding for increased border enforcement. Suffice it to say that if an agreement isn't reached by the end of the day today, January 19, the federal government will shut down. The last time the government shut down was in 2013, with the Affordable Care Act being a sticking point. For employers, a government shutdown could slow down the processing of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) forms that are required for H-1B visas and would also likely render the E-Verify system inoperable. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) matters could all be impacted as well. Moreover, government contractors might be forced to deal with legal issues surrounding furloughs or reductions in force. On the bright side, at least for the Buzz, traffic would be much lighter here in D.C.

DACA Resumes. In the meantime, as a result of the January 9 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which preliminarily enjoined the termination of DACA, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has resumed accepting DACA renewal applications. According to a January 13 statement issued by USCIS, "the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017." The Buzz wonders whether this court decision and the resumption of renewal application processing have had the unintended consequence of reducing the negotiating leverage of DACA proponents on Capitol Hill.

Ring Gets NLRB Nod. After weeks of speculation, on January 12, President Trump officially nominated Washington, D.C., management attorney John F. Ring to fill the NLRB seat that was vacated with the expiration of Philip Miscimarra's term on December 16, 2017. Although Ring is expected to be confirmed, the timetable for a confirmation vote is unknown at this point (Senate floor time really is at...

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