CBP Rulings on Hold During Government Shutdown
CBP has stopped the processing of ruling requests as a result of the ongoing impasse over government funding, said people with knowledge of the agency's operations. Several CBP officials in the Office of Regulations and Rulings said in voicemail messages they weren't at work because of the shutdown. CBP has estimated that 52,673, of its 59,561 employees will be "exempt and estimated to be retained during a federal funding hiatus." Most of those exemptions are related to the agencies ongoing revenue collections (see 13093028).
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Calls to the directors of the three divisions of the CBP Office of Regulations and Rulings went to voicemail messages saying that each director was out of the office on furlough because of the shutdown. A call to office executive director Sandra Bell went to an automated voicemail service without any recorded message. The National Commodity Specialist Division in New York also didnt answer our call, and an automated message said the office is closed because of the furlough. "You have reached the National Commodity Specialist Division of Customs and Border Protection," the message said. "Due to the lapse in appropriations and the emergency furlough, the division is closed."
CBP staff aren't processing any rulings or responding to any court documents due to the shutdown, said Kelly Herman, a lawyer with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. "None of those people are working," she said. The CBP Office of Regulations and Rulings puts out some 6,000 rulings per year produced by several hundred lawyers and import specialists, CBP has said (see 13022831). A CBP spokeswoman responded to a request for comment with an automated email saying she was out of the office "due to the lapse of appropriations and the emergency furlough." -- Brian Feito, Tim Warren