Although FMCSA staff have not yet been furloughed during the partial government shutdown, other parts of the USDOT along with other federal agencies that help review and process federal rulemaking proposals, have been affected. Some policy staff in the Office of the Secretary of the USDOT have been furloughed, and part of their responsibility is to review draft regulatory proposals from FMCSA and other USDOT agencies. Similarly, ‘desk officers’ at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget are currently furloughed, and the bulk of their job is to review rule proposals from agencies across the federal government. As a result of these furloughs and the inevitable mounting backlog, processing and publication of FMCSA’s hours of service proposal are likely to be delayed past an anticipated late Winter/early Spring publication date.