Overnight, the House passed a measure restoring federal government funding, and the President signed that legislation soon thereafter, making 43 days the new high water mark for federal government shutdowns. As of early this morning, the SEC’s website was updated to remove a notice indicating that the agency was shut down due to a lapse in appropriations, but no guidance has been provided as of yet regarding the agency’s reopening. As of my writing of this blog, it is unclear whether the furloughed SEC Staff will be returning to work today or tomorrow.

UPDATE: Since I wrote the blog very early this morning, NBC4 Washington has reported that the Office of Personal Management sent the following notice last night to federal workers in the Washington, DC area: “Employees are expected to begin the workday on time. Normal operating procedures are in effect.”

As the political parties crank their spin machines up to full blast to try to convince us who “won” this government shutdown, the one thing for certain is that we the U.S. taxpayers all lost. Holding the federal government hostage for a month and a half in the end appeared to accomplish very little, but yet it disrupted the lives of many Americans who are just trying to go about their lives with little regard for political machinations in Washington, DC. I am afraid that we have become too numb to these government shutdown shenanigans, and that does not bode well for our future – particularly given that we could face the same fate as soon as the end of January!

For the SEC, the shutdown could not have come at a worse time. The SEC Staff, already demoralized as a result of DOGE cuts, early retirements and a return-to-office directive, was forced to sit on the sidelines with no paychecks for nearly a month and a half. As a result of the shutdown, critical rulemaking initiatives that have been outlined by Chairman Atkins ground to a halt and momentum was lost. Now that the government has reopened, the Staff will have to dedicate scarce resources to working through a backlog of filings and requests. I know that the Staff is up for the challenge, but it is unfortunate that they have to face this challenge at all.

– Dave Lynn