SenateSupport: 100.0%
Summary Provided by Congressional Research Service
Shutdown Fairness Act
This bill provides appropriations to pay federal employees who work during a government shutdown.
Specifically, the bill provides appropriations for federal agencies to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments to excepted employees for work performed during any period in which interim continuing appropriations or full-year appropriations are not in effect for a fiscal year (i.e., a government shutdown). An excepted employee is an employee who is required to work during a government shutdown.
Under current law, excepted employees are not paid until the government shutdown is over. This bill provides appropriations to pay excepted employees during a government shutdown. The bill also specifies that the term excepted employee includes certain contractors who support federal employees during a government shutdown and members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty.
A federal agency may not use the funds provided by this bill during any period in which continuing appropriations are in effect for the purpose of paying excepted employees of the agency.
The bill must take effect as if it had been enacted on September 30, 2025.
Latest available text
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the "Shutdown Fairness Act".
2. Appropriations
(a) Definitions - In this section—
(1) the term "agency" means each authority of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States;
(2) the term "excepted employee"—
(A) means an employee of an agency who the head of that agency determines is an excepted employee or an employee performing emergency work, as those terms are defined by the Office of Personnel Management; and
(B) includes—
(i) a contractor who—
(I) provides support to an employee described in subparagraph (A); and
(II) is required to perform work during a lapse in appropriations, as determined by the head of the agency with respect to which the contractor provides support; and
(ii) a member of the Armed Forces on active duty; and
(3) the term "excepted work" means work performed by an excepted employee during a period during which interim or full-year appropriations for the applicable fiscal year are not in effect for the applicable agency.
(b) Appropriations - For fiscal year 2026, and any fiscal year thereafter, for any period during which interim continuing appropriations or full-year appropriations for that fiscal year are not in effect for an agency, there are appropriated to the head of the agency, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are necessary to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments otherwise payable on a regular basis to excepted employees of the agency with respect to any period of excepted work performed by the excepted employees.
(c) Termination - Appropriations and funds made available and authority granted under subsection (b) shall be available to the head of an agency until whichever of the following first occurs:
(1) The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) that provide amounts for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b).
(2) The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) without any appropriation for such purposes.
(d) Interim continuing appropriations - Appropriations made available under subsection (b) may not be obligated by the head of an agency during any period during which continuing appropriations for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b) are in effect for the agency.
(e) Charging to full-year appropriations - Obligations or expenditures made by the head of an agency pursuant to subsection (b) shall be charged to the applicable appropriation for the agency whenever a regular appropriation bill or a measure making continuing appropriations until the end of the applicable fiscal year for the agency becomes law.
(f) Retroactive effective date - This Act shall take effect as if enacted on September 30, 2025.October 16, 2025Read the second time and placed on the calendar