staff of NARA stand in front of the Archives building, a banner of National Archives and Reocrds Admn 1985 is held in the front

What Budget Cuts Look Like, 1981

And so, we enter the now-annual ritual of waiting and seeing if the National Archives (and most of the rest of the Federal Government) opens on October 1, or shuts down. The agency has been weathering financial storms since well before our modern shutdown era began in the mid-1990s. Anxiety over the paucity of funding … Continue reading What Budget Cuts Look Like, 1981

Do We Have a Budget?

Until 1980, the failure by Congress to enact funding legislation for U.S. government agencies did not lead to a shutdown.  In that year, however, an interpretation of the 1884 Antideficiency Act by Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti determined that the lack of a funding legislation requires that U.S. government agencies curtail their activities and services, cease … Continue reading Do We Have a Budget?