Defense Contractors Should Have Shutdown Plan, Attorneys Say

Scott Freling is quoted in a Bloomberg BNA article discussing why defense contractors should prepare for a possible government shutdown. According to Freling, a certain amount of complacency, especially in the Washington area, has crept into companies regarding brinksmanship surrounding federal funding deadlines. “My sense is that contractors are refreshing their shutdown playbook.” This involves assessing the contracts and funding status of their major programs, where they stand on performance and invoicing the government, and talking to contracting officers and program officials — who might not be reachable in the event of a shutdown, he says.

Contractors may also want to anticipate issues for their employees, some of whom may lose access to their workplace if they are staffed on a government facility, or effectively be furloughed themselves if work stops on their project. All of this can affect company morale, Freling adds. “Are you going to leave your employees subject to the same uncertainty you are?” he says. “Those are things companies are going to have to grapple with.”