Experts Weigh Federal IT Impacts from Government Shutdown

Agencies are pausing some IT projects, cybersecurity protections and modernization initiatives as the federal government enters its first shutdown in seven years. Former federal executives and other experts provided a look at the impacts of the shutdown on some of these efforts.

The shutdown has forced agencies to implement contingency plans that include furloughing nonessential IT staff and suspending critical modernization initiatives.

Cybersecurity at Risk

Among the most pressing concerns is the impact on federal cybersecurity due to reduced staffing.

“The whole world knows that there’s a government shutdown. People understand that [a shutdown] means fewer resources in the cyber defensive roles,” said Illumio Federal CTO and former USPS Office of the Inspector General CIO Gary Barlet. “If you’re an adversary, if you’re a malware purveyor, when do you think you’re going to strike? Now’s the time when you’re going to have potentially more success.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Wednesday that the shutdown opens up opportunities for “bad actors” to breach U.S. systems.

“You’re thinking in terms of what kind of risk there are as far as breaches and security,” she said during a Politico event. “Bad actors and adversaries do not take a day off, they don’t take an hour off, they don’t take a minute off. We always have to be aware and watchful what they’re up to.”

National Academy of Public Administration fellow, former Staff Director Florida Center for Cybersecurity and former OPM, DOW and IRS official Ron Sanders told GovCIO Media & Research that the halt of work by contractors working with agencies may not be as dangerous as the difficulty of restarting programs.

“Given that much [agencies’] long-term IT investment work is being done by contractors, do their contracts still pay them to continue that work, even though their [government] contracting officers may not be working or being paid?” Sanders said. “If so, a shutdown will have minimal impact on those investments, but if not, they may be difficult to restart.”

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 also lapsed Wednesday morning. The law required procedures for sharing classified and unclassified cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with the private sector.

Modernization Efforts Frozen or Slowed

Beyond the security risks, the shutdown puts a pause on federal IT modernization projects, noted former IT officials.

“Shutdowns can impact IT systems. Any deferred maintenance and work on updating systems will be further delayed, leading to potential backlogs and delayed contracts,” Jenny Mattingley, vice president for government affairs at the Partnership for Public Service (PPS) and former executive director of the White House Performance Improvement Council, told GovCIO Media & Research. “A government shutdown will only serve to interrupt ongoing modernization efforts, ultimately leading to a less efficient and potentially more costly and outdated, government IT infrastructure.”

The Social Security Administration, for example, is moving to digital payments as part of a modernization push. In a statement, the agency said that beneficiaries will continue to receive payments, but did not expand on the digitization project.

National Academy of Public Administration President and CEO James-Christian Blockwood said that the shutdown will drive uncertainty.

“Much of our physical infrastructure and information technology systems need to be modernized and strengthened, and the shutdown will only exacerbate existing problems,” he told GovCIO Media & Research.

Long-Term Consequences

Experts warn that even a short shutdown can have lasting consequences for federal IT. Delayed projects often incur higher costs, and the loss of skilled personnel — many of whom may seek private-sector opportunities — can erode institutional knowledge.

“[Cutting of federal jobs has caused] disruption and long-term harm to vital services that millions of Americans rely on,” said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, in a statement Wednesday. “This shutdown will only compound that problem by generating additional service outages and customer service backlogs.”

Stop-work orders will affect contractors working on government projects, meaning shutdowns can make agencies less trustworthy for businesses in the contracting space, said former OMB Associate Director of the Office of Performance and Personnel Management Loren DeJonge Shulman.

“[Repeated shutdowns and threats] make the United States government an unreliable business partner,” she said. “[Agencies] are always hard enough to work with to begin with, but it’s it was at least like a known quantity as opposed to unknown.”

Officials from the Professional Services Council, the national trade association of the government technology and professional services industry, said that the shutdown could put important projects at risk.

“The innovation pipeline that fuels federal tech modernization is at serious risk,” said PSC Vice President of Technology Policy and Government Relations Tim Brennan in a statement. “Shutdowns freeze progress on vital IT and cybersecurity initiatives, waste taxpayer dollars, and undermine the government’s ability to attract and retain top technology talent.”