FCC Will Face Massive Backlog on Reopening

[Commentary] With the Federal Communications Commission shutdown now halfway through its second week, we have been thinking about the start-up procedure when the shutdown finally ends. We don’t like how that looks.

Everything that would have come due during the shutdown instead will all be due on the same day: not the day the FCC reopens, but the day after that. Filings due on the day of reopening are likewise put off till that same next day. Set aside the problem of the FCC websites being down, which makes it is impossible to do the needed research for some of those filings. We will have to squeeze that all of that into the one day between the reopening and the due date.