What is being done to ensure consistency from agency to agency in the designation of essential personnel? (i.e. what if one agency only deems emergency/first responder type personnel essential where another might take a broader liberal view and consider someone who is conducting research?)

  According to Congressional Research Service Report RL34680, OMB's Circular No. A-11 requires executive agencies to submit to OMB "plans for an orderly shutdown in the event of the absence of appropriations" when the plans are either first prepared or later revised. OMB has required the development and maintenance of these shutdown plans since 1980.

  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides agencies with annual instructions on how to prepare for and operate during a funding gap in Circular No. A-11. The circular establishes two "policies" regarding the absence of appropriations: (1) a prohibition on incurring obligations unless the obligations are otherwise authorized by law and (2) permission to incur obligations "as necessary for orderly termination of an agency's functions," but prohibition of any disbursement (i.e., payment). 

  According to the CRS report, the circular also directs agency heads to develop and maintain shutdown plans, which are to be submitted to OMB when initially prepared and also when revised. Agency heads are to use the DOJ opinions and the circular to "decide what activities are essential to operate their agencies during an appropriations hiatus." Among other things, a shutdown plan is required to include:

• an estimate of the time to complete the shutdown, to the nearest halfday;
• the number of employees expected to be on-board (i.e., filled positions) before implementation of the plan;
• the total number of employees to be "retained" under the plan (i.e., not subject to furlough), broken out into five categories: (1) who are paid from a resource other than annual appropriations; (2) who are necessary to perform activities expressly authorized by law; (3) who are necessary to perform activities necessarily implied by law; (4) who are necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duties and powers; and (5) who are necessary to protect life and property.

 Does the President get paid?

  According to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the President is not subject to furlough. However, he will not receive pay during the shutdown period.

What essential agencies are generally in operation during the shutdown? 

  According to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, consistent with OMB’s September 17, 2013 memo, agencies will decide what activities are excepted or otherwise legally authorized to continue during a lapse in appropriations. In developing their contingency plans agencies are to ensure only those activities that are “excepted” pursuant to applicable legal requirements would continue. Agencies may allow activities to continue during a lapse in appropriations when:

• A statute or other legal requirement expressly authorizes an agency to obligate funds in advance of appropriations.
• The function addresses emergency circumstances, such that the suspension of the function would imminently threaten the safety of life or protection of property.
• The function is necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duties and powers.
• The function is “necessarily implied” from the authorized continuation of other activities.

 Does the interest on the debt still get paid?

  According to the Treasury Department contingency plan, Treasury would “would maintain payments, collections, and daily cash management and processing of essential authority/appropriation transactions based on applicable statutes,” which “includes resources to support disbursements of interest on the debt.”