WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is preparing for a shutdown at the end of this week, a move that would force some 40 percent of the agency’s employees to temporarily take leave without pay.
Although Congress earlier this year passed appropriations legislation to fund the operations for most major agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — it has not yet gotten around to the appropriations measure that funds FDA and the Department of Agriculture.
Now, President Trump and Congress are on the brink of the partial shutdown of those remaining agencies. And one senior FDA official says the agency is already preparing for that outcome; including having conversations to determine which employees need to stay on and work during the shutdown.
