As October begins, broadcasters face more than the usual flurry of fourth-quarter activity. They also face the very real possibility of a federal government shutdown starting at midnight, which could lead to consequences far beyond the usual headaches.
Neither Republican lawmakers, who support a short-term funding bill without policy riders, nor Democrats, who are demanding the extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies and a reversal of Medicaid cuts as part of any agreement, are showing signs of compromise. With President Donald Trump refusing additional concessions, a shutdown appears almost certain.
For radio broadcasters, that isn’t an abstract Washington problem. It threatens to upend compliance deadlines, stall key rulemakings, destabilize the FCC’s workforce, and delay action on legislation critical to the industry’s future.
On paper, this is already one of the busiest compliance months of the year, with Quarterly Issues/Programs Lists, Emergency Alert System Form One filings, Annual EEO Public File Reports, and the like. In past instances of shutdowns, FCC regulatory clocks were paused and deadlines tolled, with broadcasters given extra time to catch up once funding was restored.
Yet now, for broadcasters, the timing is especially precarious. The FCC is in the middle of several long-desired proceedings central to radio’s future, including the re-examination of local ownership caps, the modernization of the Emergency Alert System and Disaster Information Reporting System, and numerous. All of that work would be put on hold.
The current standoff carries an even sharper edge because of new guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget. In a September 24 memo, OMB instructed federal agencies that in the event of a shutdown, programs “whose funding would lapse” on October 1 “are no longer statutorily required to be carried out.” Agencies, it continued, should “use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force.”
For the FCC, where nearly all day-to-day functions are funded annually through appropriations, the risk is obvious. OMB outlined three conditions agencies should consider when targeting employees: whether their program’s discretionary funding lapses, whether alternative funding sources are available, and whether the program “is not consistent with the president’s priorities.”
While Congress does not close during a shutdown, as members’ salaries are protected by permanent appropriations, even that has an effect on broadcasters. Shutdown battles consume increasingly limited floor time, leadership focus, and political bandwidth. Every day spent battling over partisan spending bills is a day not spent on other legislative priorities, including a time of critical momentum for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.
The bipartisan bill has amassed more than 300 House co-sponsors and a Senate supermajority, as it awaits a vote.
Whether an unlikely truce between Republicans and Democrats can defuse the situation remains to be seen over the remaining hours of the day.
