[COBOL2Java]

No appropriation? No job. The jobs are gone. Would that make these folks happy?

Too bad it doesn't work that way. The jobs don't magically disappear.

[petitfour]

Wouldn’t that be great? Congress fails to pass a budget, so all nonessential employees are let go.

[freedumb2003]

>>Too bad it doesn’t work that way. The jobs don’t magically disappear.<<

They are positions. Theoretically a position can remain unfilled absent budget. Later they can be liquidated.