and sylvia mathews burwell. the white house's budget director. >> ifill: plus, ray suarez reports on the debate over smart guns, part of a high-tech approach to firearm safety. >> you'll see the light turn green-- from green, which means he's the authorized user, to red, which means i'm the unauthorized user, and the firearm will not shoot. >> ifill: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's "pbs newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: our lead story tonight: the federal government was back at work to

. >> we have a couple of things in the in box, omb are sylvia burwell, let's listen in harry reid is on the senate floor i'm told. let's hear what he has to say. >> this memorandum falls september 17 memo and update on the potential lapse of appropriations. no more potential madam president after midnight. provision providing under the colgd continuing appropriations act expires at 11:59 tonight. unfortunately we don't have any indication that congress will act in time for the president to sign a continuing resolution before the end of the day tomorrow. october 1st, 2013. therefore, agencies should now execute plans for shut down due to the absence of appropriations. that's what she said. so madam president, agencies of government are in the process of closing down. it now appears that the house is not going to do anything to keep the government from shutting down. they've got some engineery rigged thing about going to conference. madam president it is embarrassing that these people who are elected to represent the country are representing the tea party. the anarchists of the country

there is potential word tha offe down, sylvia burwell, giving are direction to execute their plans for an orderly shut down. congress will or will not act in time to prevent a government shut down but at this time it appears that the government shuttle down is moving ahead as planned given the fact that there are only less than eight minutes now before midnight eastern time when the government will shut down without being funded by congress. we'll continue to cover that part of the story. house is still in session, so is the u.s. senate. the showdown or not health care insurance exchanges begin rolling out at the top of the hour. it is a crucial part of the affordable care act also known as obamacare. if there's one thing everybody knows about obamacare it's complicated. david shuster breaks it down. >> the bow obamacare exchanges l be in place for only 7%, the reason, is if you get your insurance through your employer, the exchanges don't apply to you. almost half based on current trends or 154 million will have employer-based health insurance. another 46 million americans will be in

come out and this is this right here, a letter from the office of management and budget director sylvia burwell ordering departments and agencies of the federal government to the start shutting down. i'll read a quote from it. it's not the sexiest document in the world. unfortunately, we do not have a clear indication that congress will act in time for the president to sign a continuing resolution before the end of the day tomorrow. october 1st, 2013, therefore, agencies should now, acute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations. the term orderly shutdown by puzzle some viewers out there as shutdowns probably are not going to be very orderly. certainly not for all the tourists coming to washington expecting their parks and their monuments and museums to be open. that is not going to happen for the first time since there was a clinton in the white house and a gingrich up on capitol hill, this government is shut down, piers. >> gloria borger, when i hear the statue of liberty, the absolute emblem of freedom and democracy around the world has just been closed, shut down b

i probably focus more on that than o.m.b., to make sure sylvia burwell from hinton, west virginia, the president knows her well, the presiding officer mentioned knows her well, as a guy who grew up in west virginia a little bit, born there, spent some time in hinton i have some respect for her. we worked hard to get her management team, senior leadership team confirmed. she has a great team. we have to make sure at our other departments that we have from the top to well down in the ranks really strong people in confirmed positions. o.p.m., office of personnel management, the president nominated a woman i'd never heard of earlier this year, named katherine archuleta. katherine archuleta, i never met her, never heard of her. the first thing i learned, she had been the political director in the president's reelection campaign, must have done a pretty good job if the results are to be examined. and maybe some people are troubled by that. if we just stop there, that does not define who she is or what she has done. if somebody looked at my resume for the last 12 years i've been a u.s. senato

director sylvia burwell. we welcome your reaction. use the #cspanchat. here's what some capitol hill reporters were tweeting today. >> here's what defense secretary chuck hagel had to say about the government shutdown. "today, we will be welcoming all of the civilians back to duty." >> defense secretary hagel will be talking about the impact of the government shutdown on the nation's military. live coverage from the pentagon here on c-span starts at 12:50 eastern. but before that, though, house minority leader nancy pelosi will hold her weekly briefing with reporters this afternoon. we will have live coverage of that beginning at noon eastern here on c-span. and then a little bit later this afternoon, jay carney will answer reporters' question at 1:30 eastern. we'll bring that to you here on c-span. former defense secretary leon panetta and former budget director for george w. bush, jim nussle, call on congress to address the national debt and also comment on the government shutdown. both are former chairs of the house budget committee and they're part o

the president has told the head of the office of management and budget, sylvia mathers burwell, to issue a shutdown statement, and she's done that. here it is. memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies. this memorandum falls september 17 memo and provides an update on the potential lapse of appropriations. no more potential, madam president. it's after midnight. appropriations provided under the colonel consolidated further continuing resolution act expire 11:59 tonight. unfortunately, we do not have any indication congress will act in time for the president to sign a continuing resolution before the end of the day tomorrow. october 1, 2013. therefore agencies should now execute plans for shutdown due 0 the absence of appropriations. that's what she said. so, madam president, the agencies of government are in the process of closing down. it now appears that the house is not going to do anything to keep the government from shutting down. they've got some jerry rigged thing about going to conference. madam president, it is embarrassing that these people who are elected