Shutdown Watch: OPM shares furlough information; Progress on 2011 budget is mixed

The Office of Personnel Management released guidance late April 5 to deal with questions about employee furloughs that would occur if Congress fails to approve a fiscal 2011 budget – or another funding extension –  by midnight April 8.

A senior administration official said during an conference call with reporters today that nearly 800,000 feds could be affected by a shutdown. However, progress on a budget compromise appears mixed, The Hill reports.

Unlike the previous government shutdown in the mid-1990s, agencies have new problems to grapple with, such as deciding whether websites or e-mail systems should be deemed “essential,” The New York Times reports.

Looking for a breakdown of possible shutdown consequences and key players in the budget process? The Associated Press has created a nifty graphic to track the debate and how things went awry.