Coast Guard members and other federal workers who had been furloughed or were working without pay during the partial government shutdown are getting their backpay this week.
But there is still uncertainty for many contractors who were hit with stop-work orders, procurement delays and missed pay.
“To get out of the mess, you have to unravel it on a contract-by-contract basis,” said David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, a trade group that represents a variety of federal contractors, according to Politico. “What can only take five minutes to stop can take days to start again.”
The 35-day shutdown delayed $18 billion in spending, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released Monday.
“Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income,” the report said.