President Obama and congressional Republicans are no closer to a broad agreement on budget issues than they were six months ago, but the Sept. 30 end of fiscal year 2013 - and the mid-October date on which the U.S. government is expected to exhaust its ability to borrow funds - are approaching rapidly.

House Republicans are expected to take up a short-term continuing resolution to fund the federal government at current levels soon after federal lawmakers return from their August recess Sept. 9, according to a recent report from Bloomberg BNA's Heather Caygle. Although there has been no final decision, the measure could cover a 30- or 60-day period after Sept. 30 while maintaining sequestration cuts.

Democrats in the House say they may be amenable to a short-term CR at the beginning of fiscal year 2014, even with sequestration cuts, provided that there is parity in the defense and nondefense spending cuts as intended by the 2011 law that established sequestration. Congress and the president since the March 1, 2013, onset of sequestration have taken steps to blunt its effects on defense agencies, with Obama signing a six-month continuing resolution March 26 that provided the Defense Department with additional funds for the remainder of FY 2013.

Even if the Republican-controlled House, the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the president  all get on the same page with regard to a short-term CR to fund the government past Sept. 30, averting a government shutdown, the debt limit issue will come into play soon after FY 2014 begins on Oct. 1. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in an Aug. 26 letter to federal lawmakers said the government is expected to exhaust its ability to borrow funds in mid-October, when it will hit the statutory debt limit.

Obama has said he will not negotiate over the issue of raising the debt limit, while House Republicans in particular are seeking to link an increase in the current debt limit to further federal spending cuts. Although failure to address the debt limit in time would not have the effect of shutting down the government entirely, federal agencies would be forced to conserve their funds in ways that likely would affect at least some federal employees.

The early months of FY 2014 could be a bumpy ride for federal workers. And if members of Congress and the president agree on a short-term fix to the problems of funding the government past the end of FY 2013 and extending the debt limit, federal employees can expect further uncertainty in the year ahead.

In other public sector news:

• More than 30,000 furlough appeals have been filed with the Merit Systems Protection Board as of Aug. 21, with about 98 percent of the appeals coming from Defense Department civilian employees, the board said in a posting on its website.

• The U.S. Postal Service could realize "large financial gains" by establishing a USPS-only health care program outside of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, but the proposal also could further reduce funding for postal employees' and retirees' future health care, the Government Accountability Office said in a report.

• Changes to the grievance procedures for state employees in North Carolina - along with an increase in the number of employees who are exempt from protections provided by North Carolina's State Personnel Act - are included in a measure (H.B. 834) signed into law by Gov. McCrory (R).

• Opponents of an Anchorage ordinance limiting public employee unions' powers may begin collecting petition signatures to repeal the law, after an Alaska Superior Court judge ruled that their referendum campaign is legal.