Shutdown of Federal Trade Commission Operations 

Upon Failure of the Congress to Enact Appropriations 

Updated January 23, 2024 

Background 

This is the plan of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) for dealing with a circumstance 

in which the Congress fails to enact regular appropriations, a continuing resolution, or needed supplements 

with a consequent interruption of fund availability. The plan is consistent with OMB Memorandum M18-05 Planning for Agency Operations during a Potential Lapse in Appropriations (January 18, 2018); 

OMB Circular No. A-11 (2018); OMB Bulletin M-95-18 transmitting 8/16/95 Department of Justice 

opinion, (August 22, 1995); OMB Memorandum M-13-22, Planning for Agency Operations in the 

Absences of Appropriations (September 17, 2013); OMB Memorandum Agency Operations in the 

Absence of Appropriations, (October 5,1990); OMB Bulletin No. 80-14, Supplement No. 1, Agency 

Operations in the Absence of Appropriations, (August 20, 1982); OMB Memorandum, Agency Operations 

in the Absence of Appropriations, (November 17, 1981); and OMB Bulletin 80-14, Shutdown of Agency 

Operations Upon Failure by the Congress to Enact Appropriations, (August 28,1980). 

Summary of Plan 

In the absence of appropriations, federal agencies may not incur any obligations that cannot lawfully be 

funded from prior appropriations unless such obligations are otherwise authorized by law. Federal 

agencies may incur obligations as necessary to protect life or property and for the orderly termination of 

the agency’s functions, but funds may not be disbursed. If the agency determines it is necessary to close 

the FTC’s operations because of a lack of necessary funding, the agency will only continue the following 

categories of activities: 

1. Those functions that have a continuing source of funding; 

2. Those functions that are necessary to prevent an imminent and significant threat 

to the safety of human life or the protection of property; 

3. Those functions for which authority to continue during an appropriations lapse 

arises by necessary implication, including those involved in the orderly shutdown 

of operations and those in support of excepted activities; and 

4. Those functions for which there is express authorization by law to continue 

during a lapse in funding. 

All Commission employees shall be furloughed except when performing any of these enumerated 

functions and activities. Because Commissioners are Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Officers 

of the United States who are paid an annual salary that is not dependent on the hours or days they work, 

they are excepted from furlough because of a shutdown. Accordingly, the Commission’s Chair and its 

Commissioners may continue to work but will not be paid until funds have been appropriated. 

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OPM regulations provide for emergency adverse action furloughs without advance written notice of 

action. 5 C.F.R. § 752.404(d)(2). However, as soon as a lapse in appropriated funding is deemed likely, 

the Executive Director or his designee will notify Commission employees of the lack of necessary 

appropriations and the forthcoming furloughs. 

Once appropriations have been restored, employees will be notified to return to work. Employees will be 

directed to view the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and FTC websites to learn when funds have 

been appropriated, and to return to work on their next regular duty day. If employees have problems 

returning to work on the day specified, flexibilities available to supervisors include telework, adjustments 

to regular work schedule, or the use of annual leave, compensatory time off, or credit hours. 

Estimated Time to Complete Shutdown 

Most of the activities associated with the orderly shutdown of the agency’s operations, including securing 

the agency’s IT infrastructure and its records and notifying employees of the furlough, should take no 

longer than a half-day. It may, however, take another half-day, or more, of work by a substantial number 

of agency lawyers and support staff to properly address the agency’s law enforcement docket for the 

competition, consumer protection, and other matters pending in litigation. These activities will include 

notifying the courts and parties involved in certain agency matters of the cessation of normal business and 

negotiating suspensions of those actions; securing massive files and databases containing PII and 

confidential, proprietary business information; and cancelling meetings, workshops, conferences, and 

hearings. In any event, furloughs will be issued on a rolling basis as soon as each employee completes his 

or her shutdown activities. 

Immediately upon learning of an absence of appropriations, the Chair or the Executive Director will notify 

all bureau, regional, and office heads. These individuals, in turn, will notify their staffs orally or by email. 

Those employees in a travel status, including those overseas on short- and long-term assignments, will be 

contacted and instructed, as appropriate, either to stay where they are (although in a furloughed status) or 

to return to their duty stations at the earliest practicable opportunity. The Human Capital Management 

Office (HCMO) will prepare, for the appropriate signature, a notice to all staff informing them of a 

furlough in accordance with applicable law and OPM guidance. Employees on approved leave will be 

notified that all leave is cancelled for the duration of the shutdown and that they are expected to perform any 

necessary orderly shutdown activities (including receipt of a furlough notice) on the first workday the 

employee is scheduled to work after the lapse commences. These notices will be distributed via email. 

Excepted employees in HCMO and the Financial Management Office (FMO) will process personnel and 

pay records in connection with furlough actions at the earliest practicable opportunity. If appropriate, 

HCMO will notify the National Archives and Records Administration to arrange for orderly transfer of 

custody of the personnel records to the National Personnel Record Center (Civilian Records), for 

caretaking and protection of the records. HCMO will notify Union representatives of the furloughs and 

engage in impact and implementation bargaining as appropriate. 

Employees responsible for law enforcement matters in litigation will, in the cases where there is no 

immediate risk to life or property, notify opposing parties and the courts of the government shutdown and 

attempt to negotiate suspensions of dates for hearings and filings. In connection with its merger and 

consumer protection enforcement work, as well as its economic research functions, the agency maintains 

huge databases and vast volumes of paper records that contain confidential information, including PII and 

company proprietary information. Agency employees responsible for those cases and research, along with 

those charged with maintaining the agency’s records and files, will perform necessary tasks to secure and 

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protect this confidential information. If the suspension is prolonged, this work will require that all case 

and investigation files be reviewed and secured in an appropriate fashion, such as documenting the status 

of cases and projects so they can be resumed, transferred, or otherwise appropriately handled once funds 

have been appropriated. 

As part of its mission, the Commission serves the public interest by conducting research, preparing reports, 

and conducting advocacy. This work is conducted by holding workshops, seminars, conferences, and 

hearings to exchange and gather information on significant competition and consumer protection related 

issues. Employees responsible for scheduled events, here and abroad, will cancel those events affected by 

the lapse in appropriated funding and notify the public and other parties to those meetings and hearings. 

Staff will inform the parties that, if possible, the meetings and hearings will be rescheduled once funds 

have been appropriated. 

Employees responsible for the agency’s IT infrastructure will take action to ensure that IT assets are 

properly secured to protect the agency’s infrastructure and data. 

Execution of the Plan 

Prior to taking any of the actions detailed in the FTC’s shutdown plan, if a potential lapse in appropriations 

is imminent, the agency will determine whether it will continue operations past a lapse. The FTC will 

decide whether it will continue operations past a lapse in appropriations using a risk-based analysis, which 

will include an assessment of the impacts on FTC staff and contractors; external facts and circumstances 

surrounding the potential lapse; legal requirements (e.g., the Anti-Deficiency Act); guidance from OMB, 

OPM, etc.; the availability of funds that may be legally used during a lapse in appropriations (e.g., any 

prior year de-obligated balances that might be available); the costs of agency operations; risks to the 

agency’s mission and operations; and any other relevant information that might be available. Whatever 

decision the agency makes will be subject to reassessment and modification should new information 

become available, or circumstances change. Importantly, the FTC will provide timely communications to 

staff regarding the agency’s decisions and plans prior to, during, and after a lapse. The remainder of the 

information contained in this plan relates to the steps that the FTC will take to effectuate an orderly 

shutdown once the agency has made that decision. 

An Executive Committee consisting of the agency’s Executive Director, the Chair’s Chief of Staff, the 

General Counsel or his or her Principal Deputy or other designee, and the Directors or Deputy Directors 

of the Bureaus will meet each day to make recommendations to the Chair regarding which excepted 

employees may be furloughed or whether employees must be excepted from furlough and called to work to 

meet the demands of law enforcement actions to protect against immediate harm to life or government 

property interests or protect the Commission’s excepted personnel, property and IT infrastructure. See 

discussion immediately below. 

Although the Commission will not know for certain how many employees will be required to be excepted 

from furlough until a shutdown is announced, what is certain is that the Commission will only do that 

which it must do to effectuate the shutdown, to protect the Commission’s excepted personnel, property, 

and data, and to conduct essential law enforcement activities that are mandated by law and required to 

protect against an imminent threat to life or property. The Commission will except from furlough only 

those lawyers, economists, and other professionals necessary to perform the excepted functions and 

activities enumerated above. After the initial half-day period estimated as necessary to affect an orderly 

shutdown, at any given time the number of employees that could be excepted from furlough and required 

to report for duty might exceed 5% of the total number of Commission employees on-board at the beginning 

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of the lapse in appropriated funding. However, depending on the number and character of the cases 

pending at the time of the shutdown and whether courts will grant stays of pending actions during the 

shutdown, the number of excepted employees will vary daily. Should the number of excepted employees 

exceed 5% of the number of employees on-board at the beginning of the lapse in appropriated funding, 

the Commission’s shutdown activities are justified in the Section entitled Excepted Work That Will 

Continue During Shutdown. See attached Tables 1-3: Table 1 – The total number of Commission employees 

on board at the beginning of the lapse in appropriated funding and the estimated number of excepted 

employees for each bureau and office; Table 2 – Excepted Employees by Category; and Table 3 – The 

number of active cases/matters on bureau and office dockets. 

Excepted Work That Will Continue During Shutdown 

The Commission is first and foremost a civil law enforcement agency, with two core goals: protecting the 

public from unfair methods of competition and from unfair or deceptive practices. 

The Bureau of Competition (BC): On the competition side, the agency engages principally in the 

following activities: 1) reviewing premerger filings and conducting investigations to determine whether to 

challenge transactions under the antitrust laws; 2) litigating, either judicially or administratively, cases 

that challenge mergers or acquisitions; and 3) investigating and challenging, either judicially or 

administratively, anticompetitive practices that do not involve mergers or acquisitions. (See Table 1 for 

the number of BC employees onboard and the estimate of those employees who would be excepted.) 

As to item 1) above, the HSR merger notification process establishes a statutory time limit in which the 

Commission or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may challenge a transaction before it is 

consummated. Although a failure by either agency to initiate a challenge within the statutory period does 

not preclude the agencies from subsequently challenging the transaction, the nature of the available relief 

typically changes dramatically once a merger or acquisition is consummated. To the extent that the 

circumstances of a reported merger or acquisition indicate that a failure by the government to challenge 

the transaction before it is consummated will result in a substantial impairment of the government’s ability 

to secure effective relief later, the Commission will continue HSR investigations during the pendency of 

a shutdown. 

As to items 2) and 3) above, non-merger investigations will be suspended during the pendency of a 

shutdown, except as necessary to prevent statutes of limitations from precluding monetary remedies 

available to the Commission. As to litigated matters, in cases in which preliminary relief has already been 

obtained or where there has been no plan to seek preliminary relief, Commission attorneys will notify 

opposing parties and courts of the government shutdown, and request suspensions of dates for trials, 

hearings and filings, or similar relief to preserve the government’s claim. Pending court action on such 

motions for stay, staff may need to continue working in order to meet upcoming deadlines and protect the 

Commission’s interests in the litigation. Should a court deny a Commission request for an extension due 

to the shutdown, the Commission’s failure to continue to pursue its claims or defenses in the litigation 

would be a substantial impairment of the government’s legal interests and foreclose its ability to vindicate 

its position later. Thus, if a court denies such a request and orders a case to continue, the Commission will 

comply with the court’s order to prevent the risk of immediate and substantial harm to the agency’s claims 

for relief. The Commission will limit its litigation staffing to the minimum level needed to comply with 

the court’s order and to protect life and property. 

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On average, it takes anywhere from three BC attorneys, one to two economists, and two administrative 

and technical support personnel to staff a case at the initial phase. It typically takes 15+ attorneys, two to 

three economists, plus five to six administrative and technical support personnel to handle each case when 

in litigation. The Commission’s estimates for the number of staff required to support exempted 

competition matters depends on the status and nature of the cases in the docket at the time of shutdown. 

(See Table 3 for an estimate of active matters on BC’s dockets.) All the BC employees who would be 

excepted from furlough during a shutdown would be exempt because they are necessary to protect life and 

property. 

The Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP): On the consumer protection side, the Commission works 

to protect consumers from deceptive (and often fraudulent) and unfair practices in the marketplace. The 

Commission frequently files cases in federal district courts seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive 

relief to immediately halt illegal acts and practices in or affecting commerce and seeking monetary 

relief to provide redress to injured consumers. The Commission also files actions in federal court seeking 

civil penalties for violations of rules and orders. Emergency relief is frequently needed for these cases to 

stop such harmful deceptive acts and to prevent the dissipation of assets or the continuation of harm that 

would prejudice the government’s property interest in the claim if it were unable to secure an asset freeze 

or TRO. In addition, the Commission also refers actions seeking civil penalties for violations of rules and 

orders to the Department of Justice for filing in federal court, and if the Department of Justice declines the 

referral, the Commission litigates the civil penalty action in federal court on its own behalf. 

At any given time, attorneys from BCP, which includes staff in Headquarters and the eight Regional 

Offices, are actively litigating numerous cases in federal district courts throughout the country and 

administrative courts in Washington, DC. (See Table 3 for an estimate of BCP’s active federal court and 

administrative litigations). As with the cases in BC’s docket, BCP cases vary tremendously in terms of 

where they are in the lifecycle of litigation, from cases where complaints and requests for preliminary 

relief have just been filed or are about to be filed, to cases that are approaching significant deadlines, such 

as discovery cut-offs, summary judgment deadlines or trial on the merits. The complexities of cases vary, 

but the typical case is staffed by two to four BCP attorneys and one investigator or paralegal, as well as 

outside experts as needed. One or more agency economists may also assist in assembling the evidence for 

trial and sometimes providing expert testimony at trial. Each supervisor in the litigating Divisions and 

Regions manages several active BCP litigations, and for every case that continues during a shutdown, it 

is essential that a supervisor who is familiar with that matter remain to provide continuing guidance and 

feedback for litigating staff. 

In assessing which BCP matters will be pursued during a shutdown, BCP, in consultation with the General 

Counsel, will carefully review every consumer protection matter (including investigations that are nearing 

completion), focusing on the cases where there is the highest threat of immediate harm and on cases where 

the harm is ongoing. 

For those cases already in litigation but are in a stage of litigation such that there is not a reasonable 

likelihood that the safety of life or the protection of property would be compromised in some significant 

degree absent immediate action, the staff handling those cases will be furloughed. In the event there 

becomes a reasonable likelihood that the safety of life or the protection of property (including the 

Commission’s ability to obtain the monetary relief it is seeking) would be compromised in some 

significant degree absent immediate action, the Commission will call back the minimum number of staff 

necessary to take such action. 

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For those cases already in litigation and there is a reasonable likelihood that the safety of life, or the 

protection of property (including the Commission’s ability to obtain the monetary relief it is seeking) 

would be compromised in some significant degree absent immediate action, the Commission will notify 

opposing parties and courts of the government shutdown, and request suspensions of dates for hearings 

and filings. Pending court action on such motions for stay, staff may need to continue working in order to 

meet upcoming deadlines and protect the Commission’s interests in the litigation. Should a court deny a 

Commission request for stays or extensions due to the shutdown, the Commission’s failure to continue to 

pursue its claims or defenses in the litigation would be a substantial impairment of the government’s legal 

interests and foreclose its ability to vindicate its position later. Thus, if a court denies such a request, the 

Commission will comply with the court’s order to prevent the risk of immediate and substantial harm to 

the agency’s claims for relief. The Commission will limit its litigation staffing to the minimum level 

needed to comply with the court’s order and to protect life and property. 

For those cases where the Commission has sought, but the court has not yet granted, a preliminary 

injunction, or where only a temporary restraining order is in place, staff will continue to work until the 

court rules on the Commission’s motion for preliminary injunction. Doing so protects the Commission’s 

ability to protect against imminent harm to property interests and to protect against substantial impairment 

of the government’s legal interests. Once the court has ruled on the Commission’s motion for a preliminary 

injunction, the staff will file a motion for a stay. 

Pending BCP investigations will be suspended during the pendency of a shutdown, except as necessary to 

prevent statute of limitations from precluding the Commission’s ability to obtain monetary relief or as 

necessary to immediately seek a temporary restraining order to prevent ongoing substantial monetary harm 

to consumers. 

The total number of BCP employees excepted from furlough depends on the status and nature of the cases 

in the docket at the time of shutdown. The Director of BCP and one front office employee may be excepted 

from furlough to supervise this work. (See Table 1 for the total number of BCP employees on board and 

the estimated number of employees excepted from furlough and Table 3 for the total number of active 

BCP federal court and administrative litigations). 

The Bureau of Economics (BE): As noted above, BE supports pending BC and BCP litigation. BE staff 

might be excepted from furlough to support ongoing litigations or critical pre-merger investigations if the 

courts do not grant requested extensions, which also includes the Director of BE and a limited number of 

front office employees to supervise the work. (See Table 1 for the total number of BE employees on board 

and the estimated number of employees exempted from furlough). Should a court deny a Commission 

request for an extension due to the shutdown, the Commission’s failure to continue to pursue its claims or 

defenses in the litigation will be a substantial impairment of the government’s legal interests and may 

foreclose its ability to vindicate its position later. 

Office of General Counsel (OGC): The Office of General Counsel’s major functions are representing 

the Commission in court and providing legal counsel to the Commission, the operating bureaus, and other 

offices. In the event of a lapse in appropriated funding, the General Counsel, his or her Principal Deputy 

or other designee, the Deputy General Counsel for Legal Counsel as needed, and up to seven other 

attorneys at any given time would be excepted from furlough to support excepted law enforcement 

personnel who would be working and to work with the Chair and the Executive Director to manage the 

agency during the shutdown or otherwise give legal advice relating to the shutdown. 

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For those cases already in litigation being handled by the OGC, including appellate litigation, the agency 

will notify opposing parties and courts of the government shutdown, and request suspensions of dates for 

hearings and filings. Pending court action on such motions for stay, staff may need to continue working 

to meet upcoming deadlines and protect the Commission’s interests in the litigation. Should a court deny 

a Commission request for an extension due to the shutdown, the Commission’s failure to continue to 

pursue its claims or defenses in the litigation would be a substantial impairment of the government’s legal 

interests and foreclose its ability to vindicate its position later. Thus, if a court denies such a request and 

orders a case to continue, the Commission will comply with the court’s order to prevent the risk of 

immediate and substantial harm to the agency’s claims for relief. The number of additional attorneys from 

the OGC needed to be excepted from furlough to handle such matters or any emergency appeals that might 

need to be filed will vary depending on the number of cases. However, the Commission will limit its 

litigation staffing to the minimum level needed to comply with the court’s order and to protect life and 

property. In addition, the Deputy General Counsel for Litigation will be excepted as needed to provide 

continuing guidance and feedback for litigating staff. 

In addition, some small number, up to two at any given time, of the OGC employees may be excepted 

from the furlough to help Commission witnesses prepare should Congress schedule any hearings involving 

Commission staff during the shutdown. 

An Agency Ethics Official and a very small number of OGE staff will be excepted on a limited basis for 

the following functions: 1) to support the President’s constitutional responsibilities to nominate and 

appoint PAS officers to the agency pursuant to the Appointments Clause; 2) provide ethics advice to 

Commissioners and employees who are performing excepted functions; 3) provide ethics advice to 

employees who are furloughed to ensure they do not engage in any activity that would violate federal 

ethics laws that would adversely affect their ability to work if called back to perform excepted functions; 

and 4) meet any deadlines required by law. Such functions are necessarily implied to allow Commissioners 

and staff to perform excepted functions. Excepted ethics functions do not include responding to requests 

by former employees seeking clearance under Commission Rule 4.1 before participating in FTC matters 

that were pending or directly resulted from matters that were pending during their FTC tenure, as those 

functions do not protect life or property from imminent harm. (See Table 1 for the total number of OCG 

employees on board and for the estimated number of OGC employees excepted from furlough and Table 

3 for the number of active litigations on OGC’s docket). 

Office of the Executive Director (OED): OED includes the Executive Director’s front office, the Office 

of the Chief Information Officer, the Financial Management Office, the Human Capital Management 

Office, and the Office of the Chief Administrative Services Officer. OED’s excepted staff would be those 

necessary to protect the lives of those excepted Commission employees who will remain at work and to 

protect the Commission’s property, including its IT and physical infrastructure and data. In addition to the 

Executive Director and his staff, who will be excepted from furlough to oversee agency operations during 

the shutdown, the Commission estimates that OED employees from its constituent offices may be excepted 

from furlough to engage in the below described activities. The continuation of certain of these functions 

is authorized to protect life and property. (See Table 1 for the total number of OED employees on board 

and for the estimated number of OED employees excepted from furlough). 

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO): The agency anticipates that several OCIO employees 

will be exempted from furlough to continue to work to ensure the integrity and security of the agency’s 

IT infrastructure and its availability for use by exempt employees pursuing excepted and essential law 

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enforcement actions during the shutdown. These individuals will manage funded IT contract support and 

may continue to operate during some period or entirety of the shutdown. In the absence of such contract 

support, they will provide direct support of the agency’s intranet, collaboration, and internal 

communication sites; provide continuous monitoring of FTC systems; and otherwise support excepted 

employees’ IT needs. When notice of the agency’s return to normal operations is announced, exempted 

IT staff will coordinate the safe restoration of any IT systems that may have been affected by the lapse in 

appropriated funding. 

Financial Management Office (FMO): The agency anticipates that several FMO employees may be 

excepted from furlough and required to continue to work to manage the agency’s budget, finance, contracting, 

and travel support functions in support of the work of employees pursuing excepted and essential law 

enforcement actions during the shutdown staffing continued law enforcement actions. During this time and in 

preparation of a return to normal operations, exempted financial management and acquisitions staff will 

evaluate steps to resume all paused contracts, evaluate fund and resource availability, and ensure timely 

payment of all vendors and ongoing contracts. 

Office of the Chief Administrative Services Officer (OCASO): The Commission anticipates that 

several employees may be excepted from furlough to ensure the proper operation and security of the 

Commission’s two Headquarters buildings located in Washington, DC and those Regional offices 

supporting on going or impending litigation matters. Associated OCASO expected federal employees and 

contractors will provide direct support (e.g., logistic operations, security, facilities engineering, legal 

reference and stenography services) to FTC Bureaus and staff as they fulfill their mission essential duties. 

Human Capital Management Office (HCMO): The Commission anticipates that several HCMO 

employees may be excepted from furlough to provide continuing human resources services for employees 

pursuing excepted and essential law enforcement actions during the shutdown. 

Other Staff and Functions: The Chair, the Chief of Staff, and the Commissioners will be excepted from 

furlough. Attorney and economic advisors supporting individual Commissioners will be furloughed 

unless, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, it is determined an advisor is necessary to 

support the Commissioner to perform excepted functions as enumerated above. 

The Consumer Response Center operated by the Commission collects key information from, and provides 

key information to, consumers and law enforcement authorities, handling tens of thousands of inquiries 

and complaints weekly. Complaint information collected by the Commission is entered into a secure 

online database within the Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which the agency shares with law 

enforcement organizations throughout the U.S., as well as Canada and Australia. The agency also 

maintains the Do Not Call Registry to protect consumers from receiving unwanted commercial 

telemarketing calls. In the event of a shutdown, the Consumer Response Center will suspend operations 

and staff will be unavailable to respond to complaints, inquiries, or requests for information. 

DoNotCall.gov and all other web- based complaint intake portals, such as ReportFraud.ftc.gov, 

IdentityTheft.gov, and e-consumer.gov, will suspend operations. The Consumer Sentinel Network will 

remain available to law enforcement organizations on a limited basis as a “necessarily implied” function 

in support of activities protecting life and property from imminent threat. Authorized users will be able to 

conduct inquiries and searches of existing data, but no new data or law enforcement registrations will be 

entered into the system until the agency reopens. 

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Ancillary support services not previously identified will be maintained only to the extent necessary to 

support excepted operations. These ancillary functions, which may include very limited legislative affairs 

and other congressional support activities, and public affairs activities, may be conducted only to the extent 

the activities are necessarily implied to perform an excepted function. The Secretary to the Commission 

may also be excepted on a limited basis to perform responsibilities necessarily implied to support excepted 

activities. 

Notification to the Public and Staff – The Executive Director, with the assistance of the Office of Public 

Affairs, will inform the public and FTC employees of the Commission’s operating status and excepted 

functions, as appropriate, through FTC.gov. The agency also will use FTC’s Emergency Notification 

System (ENS) and internal email to contact employees regarding change in status. Since excepted 

activities may move on and off the excepted list, FTC staff may access their email through agency-issued 

electronic devices on a limited basis to check for communications regarding the shutdown and whether 

they are being called back to perform an excepted activity but may not perform non-excepted work. The 

agency website will remain accessible to the public but will not be updated except on a very limited basis 

to support excepted functions and activities. 

The Work that Will Not Be Done During the Shutdown 

The Commission’s Premerger Notification Office (PNO) will be closed during the shutdown, and the 

Commission will not receive, accept, or process premerger notification filings under HSR, or respond to 

questions or requests for information or advice from outside parties. 

The Commission will not process FOIA requests. It does not anticipate engaging in rulemaking; dealing 

with ethics issues not identified above or, unless required to do so by reason of a court not continuing 

litigation deadlines, defending EEO or other suits against the agency; engaging in economic research; 

pursuing its ongoing studies; issuing reports and guides; attending or conducting workshops, roundtables, 

hearings or conferences; or making its views known through letters or comments to other agencies. 

Similarly, no staff in its Regional Offices will be available to answer inquiries from the public or do any 

other work that does not directly support the protection of life and property. No staff will be available to 

perform activities related to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The Commission will not 

work on intergovernmental task forces of which it is a part, provide testimony or engage in consumer 

protection education and outreach. The Commission will not pursue the vast bulk of its competition and 

consumer protection investigations and prosecutions funded through its normal appropriations. 

The Commission will not engage in multilateral competition fora to promote convergence of sound 

competition policy choices or participate in bilateral negotiations and consultations to promote and support 

competition or consumer protection enforcement coordination with international partners. The 

Commission will not participate in the International Competition Network in which it has a leadership 

role, the Organization for Economic Cooperation, the United Nations Conference on Trade and 

Development, the International Competition Enforcement Network, or the Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation Forum with respect to competition or consumer protection policy or enforcement issues. The 

Commission will not participate in or help lead the London Action Plan, a global network of industry 

representatives and law enforcement agencies from more than 20 countries that works together to fight 

spam, phishing, and other online threats. Nor will the Commission coordinate with Canada on cross-border 

fraud. It will call home those employees who are providing technical assistance to new and emerging 

foreign competition and consumer protection agencies except those employees who are providing longterm technical assistance under an existing USAID award that has adequate previously-obligated funding 

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to permit continued performance during a shutdown period and calling home those employees would incur 

substantial unnecessary costs. 

The Commission will stay all administrative litigation proceedings under Part 3 of the Commission’s 

Rules of Practice and all deadlines will be extended by the number of days the agency is closed due to a 

lapse in appropriated funding. Similarly, all response dates for Civil Investigative Demands and subpoenas 

will be extended by the number of days the agency is closed due to a lapse in appropriated funding unless 

there is a Commission order to the contrary. This stay of administrative litigation would also apply to all 

appeals taken before a Commission administrative law judge or before the Commission itself under the 

Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. 

The agency will not undertake records management functions beyond those necessary to shut down. Nor 

will it process personnel actions, update policies and procedures, conduct internal controls reviews 

and audits, engage in labor management negotiations, provide training, work on new database 

applications, test new applications, work on IT initiatives, or undertake other than emergency building 

maintenance and support. Additionally, while the agency’s website, www.ftc.gov, will be available, it 

will not be updated. 

In sum, upon the agency’s determination that it is necessary to close the FTC’s operations because of 

a lack of necessary funding, the Commission will promptly commence an orderly shutdown during which 

it will review its cases in litigation and will attempt to secure stays or extensions. Where it is unable to 

obtain such relief, staff will be excepted from furlough to litigate those cases. In addition, the Commission 

will except from furlough only those lawyers, economists, and support staff necessary to continue premerger investigations with statutory deadlines and law enforcement litigation in order to protect the 

government’s interest in the legal positions it had advanced or where there would be a significant, 

immediate harm to life or property if such action were not continued or taken. Finally, only such support 

staff as are necessary to support the activities of the excepted law enforcement personnel and to protect 

the Commission’s physical and IT infrastructure and data will be excepted from furlough. 

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Table 1: FY2023 Federal Trade Commission Contingency Plan 

FTC Bureaus and Offices with Excepted Personnel 

Bureau / Office Authorized 

FTE 

Excepted Total 

(Max) 

Excepted Percentage 

(Max) 

Bureau of Consumer Protection 459 69 15% 

Bureau of Competition 416 208 50% 

Bureau of Economics 120 11 9% 

Office of General Counsel 56 15 27% 

Office of the Executive Director 164 77 47% 

Chair, Chief of Staff, 

and the Commissioners 37 15 40% 

Other Offices 136 12 9% 

Commission Wide 

(all Bureaus & Offices) 1388 407 29% 

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Table 2: FY2023 Federal Trade Commission Shutdown Plan Excepted Employees 

by Category 

Categories 

Employees 

Excepted from

Furlough 

Category 1: Employees whose compensation is financed by a resource other 

than annual appropriations. 3 

Category 2: Employees necessary to perform activities expressly authorized 

by law. 0 

Category 3: Employees necessary to perform activities necessarily implied

by law (including presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed employees). < 10 

Category 4: Employees necessary to the discharge of the President’s 

constitutional duties and powers. 0 

Category 5: Employees necessary to protect life and property. 407 

Table 3: FY2023 Federal Trade Commission Additional Statistics 

Categories Total 

Bureau of Competition’s docket of active matters 200 - 230 

Bureau of Consumer Protection cases being litigated in federal district courts 40 - 50 

Bureau of Consumer Protection’s administrative litigations 2 

Office of General Counsel active litigations 3 

12