Contractors quantify shutdown damage as stoppages spread across missions
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By
Nick Wakeman
The Professional Services Council’s new shutdown tracker details program stoppages from Head Start to missile defense, naming contracts and counting affected workers.
The government contracting industry is putting numbers behind the economic pain being caused by the shutdown.
The Professional Services Council, one of the largest trade associations for GovCon firms, has launched a Shutdown Impact Tracker that names specific programs either stopped or under threat.
PSC's tracker includes the dollar value of some programs and the number of contractors impacted. In at least one case, the number of children and families impacted is also shown.
For example, contractors supporting the Health and Human Services Department’s Head Start Program have received stop-work orders. The stoppage impacts 365 contractor staff in all 50 states. Those workers support more than 716,000 children and their families by providing training and technical assistance to their teachers and staff.
“The longer the shutdown endures, the higher the risks are for not only the essential government missions but the constituents our government serves,” said PSC CEO James Carroll. “It is imperative that policymakers act swiftly to reopen the government and prevent further damage.”
The tracker also highlights stoppages at agencies serving national security interests including the National Nuclear Security Administration, Space Force, Missile Defense Agency and Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
PSC calls out specific program areas that are suffering including Artemis II at NASA, which jeopardizes America’s leadership in space exploration and innovation.
Other areas include military platform readiness because the shutdown is deferring maintenance, overhaul and sustainment work.
Contractors also provide analysts and operational support for intelligence production, border security, and network defense.
“The inability to pay contractors performing these essential duties translates to immediate operational degradation,” PSC said.
“Let‘s restore appropriations and reopen the government so that agency missions can resume without further deterioration,” said PSC President Stephanie Sanok Kostro.
PSC said it will update the tracker as it gathers more information and stories from member companies.