No Social Security Furloughs Through February 15 -- And Maybe None Period

From Govexec.com:

[A spokeswoman for Senator Byrd, the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee] said the joint resolution [which is planned to fund government operations for the rest of the fiscal year] would not rely on a formula like that used in the current continuing resolution [which funds Social Security at such a low rate that the agency says that if it is continued for the entire fiscal year that employee furloughs are inevitable], but will "evaluate broad priorities and look at areas in desperate need." In that way, it would more closely resemble an omnibus spending bill, but she said the joint resolution would be different in that it would be "a lot more bare bones," with no policy direction. ...

At the Social Security Administration, where Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart has publicly warned that proposed budget cuts would require furloughs of about 10 days agencywide, that flexibility could mean the agency gets sufficient funding to stay open as usual. A spokesman said Wednesday that SSA could continue to operate through mid-February [when the current continuing funding resolution runs out] without needing to make a decision on furloughs.