With most federal agencies slated to run out of money by the end of April, Congress must pass a spending measure to avoid a partial government shutdown.  Right now, it looks like the Department of Defense will get an actual appropriation and additional “off budget” funds.  Similarly, border protection and related services inside DHS will get actual money for new project starts at the end of FY’17.  That’s good news for these agencies and the contractors that do business with them.  Appropriated money means that work can begin on new projects once the funding is in place.  On the flip side, other agencies would likely operate under a Continuing Resolution for the remainder of the year.  Officials in these agencies have also been told to expect less money for the rest of the year than what had originally been planned.  This means no new starts and that only higher priority projects would continue to be fully funded. Widespread contract cancellations aren’t expected, but delays could be implemented.  There may be less action in the third quarter of the FY this year, but the last quarter could be a race to the finish.