article_snippet: Your government's guide to a partial shutdown .
article_snippet: A temporary fix keeps the Department of Homeland Security running at full steam this week, but Congress will be trying to find a longer-term solution next.
article_snippet: So department workers still have to prepare and sort out whether department workers would have to work -- or would be furloughed -- in the event funding expires.
article_snippet: Buried deep in there on page 23--- a little note to the 15% of DHS workers who might have been furloughed: you can check your email but you cannot hit reply," said Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post.
article_snippet: You were allowed to check for the status of the furlough but to hit reply or to engage anyone on email might result in severe penalties."
article_snippet: "So you would get paid after a shutdown, but you weren't allowed to check your email.
article_snippet: Perhaps a silver lining to the possibility of a shutdown.