The Defense Department plans to award millions of dollars in contracts for equipment and services despite a shutdown of the federal government, Federal Times reported Tuesday.
Marcus Weisgerber writes that the agency will only publicly disclose awarded contracts once the shutdown ends.
Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman, told Federal Times in an email that the money for those contracts was appropriated by Congress in previous fiscal years.
Weisgerber also reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon aims to reduce the number of civilian workers slated to be furloughed under the shutdown.
Agency lawyers are checking “if there’s any margin here or widening in the interpretation of the law regarding exempt versus non-exempt civilians,” Hagel added, according to the report.
