The government shutdown has had a major impact on the DBA industry as the Department of Labor has significantly reduced its labor force during the shutdown. The Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) currently has 1,182 of 1,340 of its employees working. The Benefits Review Board (BRB) currently only has one of 43 employees working and no employees are currently working at the Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) level.

At the Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation (DFEC), the War Hazard’s Compensation Act (WHCA) employees are currently working as they are “performing activities necessarily implied by law.” WHCA claims will continue to be paid as long as there are sufficient funds. However, currently all processing of claims made by insurance carrier’s including new claims, reimbursement claims, and appeals have ceased.

At the OALJ level, because no employees are currently working, all hearings scheduled for a time during the shutdown have been cancelled and will be rescheduled by the OALJ when normal operations resume. All deadlines requiring a filing with the OALJ during the shutdown such as motions, responses to motions, answers to complaints, prehearing statements and exhibits and post-hearing briefings have been tolled beginning on October 1, 2025. The period tolled will be the number of days the OALJ was closed during the shutdown plus five business days the OALJ resumes operations. The Electronic Filing System has also been suspended.

Currently, the shutdown is ongoing. The full effect of the shutdown on OWCP as well OALJ operations once the government reopens is yet to be known.