The U.S. Congress has yet to agree on a short-term spending plan, so federal agencies are preparing for a government shutdown that is likely to begin Wednesday, the first day of the next fiscal year.

With the federal government’s outsized influence in Alaska, the impacts could be acute in the 49th state.

To some extent, what will happen is predictable, based on past shutdowns. This year might be different, though, because the White House Office of Management and Budget issued an unusual pre-shutdown memo late Wednesday. It directs agencies to take the shutdown as an opportunity to fire employees working on any program that is not funded by another law and not “consistent with the President’s priorities.”

Is it a bluff? Maybe. The memo is overtly political. It names Democrats and the

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