DOT: 18,000 workers could be furloughed if government shuts down

{mosads}The Senate passed a measure on Friday that would fund the government through Nov. 15 after stripping provisions inserted into the bill by the Republican-led House that would defund President Obama’s signature health care law.

The lower chamber is expected to work over the weekend to craft a response to the Senate’s bill, but it remains unclear if the House will Senate another version of the government funding bill – and whether the upper chamber would have enough time to consider it.

The DOT said on Friday the biggest decrease in its workforce that would come if a deal is not reached was in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is the agency largest subsidiary.  The FAA would go from 46,070 employees currently to 30,556.

The transportation department said the FAA’s air traffic controllers would be exempt from furloughs.

The FAA came under fire earlier this year when it furloughed air traffic controllers after the implementation of the sequestration budget cuts in the spring. The agency purposely delayed flights for nearly two weeks until lawmakers passed  a bill to allow it to move money in its budget to end the furloughs.

The DOT’s full post-shutdown operations plan can be read here.