White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said today that it was “very possible” the partial government shutdown will last into the new session of Congress.
“I don’t think things are going to move very quickly here for the next couple of days,” Mulvaney told Chris Wallace in an interview on Fox News Sunday.
He also discussed details of when the partial shutdown really kicks in and what the pay implications are for federal employees.
“Wednesday is really the first day that this [the partial government shutdown] kicks in,” said Mulvaney, noting that the government is basically shut down on Sunday anyway, and Christmas Eve and Christmas are also federal holidays (Christmas Eve was declared a day off via executive order by President Trump).
But Mulvaney also discussed pay for federal employees. “The paychecks [for federal employees], importantly, will go out on the 28th [of December],” said Mulvaney. “I want everybody to understand no one is working without getting paid.”
He added, “The next pay period that is impacted is January 11th. I think it’s very possible the shutdown will go beyond the 28th and into the new Congress.”