On Dec. 7, 2018, President Trump signed a short-term fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending measure, averting a partial government shutdown. Following memorial events in Washington, DC for former President George H.W. Bush, Congress and the administration agreed to the spending extension which will expire  Dec. 21, 2018. The extension allows two additional weeks for an agreement to be reached between Congress and the President on border wall funding. If Congress and the administration fail to agree on the border wall funding and spending bills by the new deadline of December 21, there will be a partial government shutdown.

Even in the case of a shutdown, the NIH, CDC and most other health agencies would be spared extensive disruption. The health spending bill, along with the Department of Defense spending bill, was enacted in late October 2018, granting those agencies their FY2019 budgets. Unfortunately, however, a shutdown would close the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies, with staff placed on furlough.