As this is written in mid-January, the federal government
is partially shut down due to a funding dispute between the President and Congress.
The FCC is among the agencies affected. 
We hope that, by the time you read
this, an agreement has been reached to reopen all federal agencies. However,
the impact on hams will likely extend beyond the shutdown. Here's a snapshot of
how the shutdown affected government agencies and services typically used by
hams, including any expected post-shutdown effects.
Federal Communications Commission
The FCC shut down all but essential functions (such as spectrum
auctions) as of January 3. The Universal Licensing System (ULS) and Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS) websites continued to be accessible; however,
there was no staff support behind them. Amateur license processing was shut
down, including new licenses, upgrades, vanity call requests, renewals and
administrative changes (such as a change of address). There will be a backlog
in all of these functions once the government reopens, so hams filing license-related
applications can expect processing delays. If similar situations in the past
are used for guidance, licenses due to expire during the shutdown period will
remain valid as long as a renewal application has been filed in a timely
manner. All other applications will be processed in the order received once the
staff is back at work. Deadlines on comments or reply comments on open
rulemaking proceedings will likely be extended bv the number of days during
which the FCC was shut down (although we are not aware of any amateur-related
proceedings currently in comment or reply-comment periods).
Lapse in Government Funding
Effective: January 3, 2019 2:00 pm
System: Universal Licensing System
(ULS)
Due to a lapse in funding, the
operations of the Federal Communications Commission will be limited with no
system support. We regret any inconvenience.
NOAA/Space Weather Prediction Center
The Department of Commerce was also affected by the
shutdown. Its many agencies include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), the umbrella agency for the National Weather Service and
the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The National Weather Service and
its Storm Prediction Center remained operational because they are essential to
protection of life and property (even though workers were not being paid during
the shutdown). The SWPC web page also said it was remaining open, but not all data was available.
National Institute of Standards and Technology / WWV
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is
also part of the Commerce Department and was similarly affected by the
shutdown. Radio stations WWV and WWVH remained on the air, but the WWV web page
had no current information available. (Sidenote: To the best of our
knowledge, the future status of WWV, WWVB and WWVH remains uncertain. The Commerce
Department eliminated their funding in its latest budget request, but as far as
we know, Congress has not taken final action on the department's budget.)
NASA
All NASA operations were shut down except for those necessary
to maintain safety aboard the International Space Station. It is
unclear at this point how amateur satellites scheduled for launch aboard NASA rockets
will be affected. If a launch is part of an ISS resupply mission, it will
presumably move ahead on schedule. Other launches may be delayed as a result of
the shutdown. Check the status pages for individual satellites for updates.