Lawmakers Push Competing Bills to Guarantee Federal Worker Pay During Shutdowns

With the government partially shut down for the second time in as many months, there is a renewed spotlight on ensuring that federal workers are paid in future shutdowns. 

House Democrats this week unveiled legislation called the True Shutdown Fairness Act. 

The bill would guarantee that federal workers, service members, and contractors are paid and protected during any shutdown that occurs in fiscal year (FY) 2026, both excepted and furloughed employees. It would also ensure that the Trump Administration cannot use a shutdown to carry out reductions in force. 

“Federal workers and contractors – and their jobs – should never be used as leverage in political standoffs,” said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC). “Federal workers and the American public shouldn’t bear the cost of Congress’s failure to do its job.”

A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). 

Meanwhile,  a separate proposal called The Shutdown Fairness Act (H.R. 1737), was introduced in the House by a group of 16 bipartisan members as companion legislation to a Senate version (S.3168) that was released in October.

The legislation would require federal agencies to continue to pay federal workers in full and on time during a lapse in appropriations. 

“Federal workers and service members are not political pawns – they’re hardworking Americans who keep our country safe, moving, and running,” said one of the sponsors, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). “This bill will make sure no federal worker or service member ever has to worry about putting food on the table because of Congress’s dysfunction.”

“My bill would make sure none of these employees are working without pay, unable to make ends meet for themselves and their families,” said another co-sponsor, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD).

The legislation is supported by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and more than a dozen other labor and professional organizations. 

In October, Democrats in the Senate voted against The Shutdown Fairness Act because it did not extend pay to furloughed workers in addition to excepted employees.