NIH has close brush with shutdown

If there is any one particular source of unease currently shared by many of the research labs here at Hopkins, it is the event of a shutdown of the federal government. Among the agencies that would be affected is the National Institutes of Health, a major source of funding for many of Hopkins’s research labs, graduate students and post-doctorate fellows.

Immediate effects here at Hopkins might not be as critical as they are for federal agencies. Although the shutdown will affect the distribution of funds, the way disbursement of NIH funds at Hopkins is structured means that much of funding for Hopkins researchers will last into the summer. However, depending on the length of a government shutdown, there will be a delay in the review of grant applications.

The NIH itself, including its research labs and clinical trials, will be affected immediately. While currently active clinical trials will still be running and clinical centers will remain open, new trials will be put on hold and new patients can be neither recruited for trials nor admitted to the clinical center.

Although the labs at NIH are able to designate one or two individuals each to maintain rodent colonies and other essential materials, the rest of the researchers who do not work with patients will be furloughed and barred from work-related activities.

In addition to physically showing up at the NIH campuses, these work-related activities include the use of work e-mail and other tasks that can be performed when researchers are not at their labs. One can only imagine how this trickles down to other researchers, especially those here at Hopkins who are in active contact or collaborations with NIH labs.

These effects of a shutdown arise from existing yet highly antiqued laws surrounding how government agencies can operate in the event of a shutdown.

Based on these existing measures, government agencies must provide compensation for any work or service provided to them. Funds for these agencies are appropriated by Congress through legislation that can fund a full fiscal year or for shorter periods of time should delays arise in the legislative process.

Whether through significant disagreements or delays in appropriation committees, failure to pass legislation to fund the government before the prior piece of legislation expires will prohibit government agencies from spending funds. In essence, these agencies have no money. A shutdown ceases once new legislation is approved and implemented.

With some exceptions including transportation security and military personnel, federal employees cannot work during a government shutdown as their agencies are unable to pay them.

For those at the NIH who are exempt, they are permitted to work but will not receive compensation. As for the employees that cannot work during the shutdown, the penalties for performing any work-related activities are ambiguous, but researchers potentially face a fine should they open their NIH e-mails.