The Federal Debt Ceiling and the Smithsonian

No one knows what kind of agreement, if any, will be reached, but we are planning for every contingency.

As you know, negotiations to resolve the debt ceiling issue continue. We remain optimistic that an agreement will be reached. However, in the meantime, we want to ensure that staff know that we are doing some preliminary planning internally in the event that we are directed to take action during the mid to latter part of next week. 

There are many aspects of a debt ceiling scenario that are not fully understood and whatever actions we might need to take will be carefully coordinated with the rest of the federal Government. We believe this would be different than previous funding lapses or government shutdowns, but we do not yet know the specifics. In the meantime, the Smithsonian remains open and will continue to welcome our visitors. We wish you a restful Memorial Day weekend.