Sponsors (2)
Introduced January 15, 2026 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress January 15, 2026
The bill preserves pay, benefits continuity, and operational capacity for select DHS personnel and contractors during funding lapses, at the expense of greater immediate taxpayer costs, reduced fiscal leverage to end shutdowns, weaker routine oversight controls, and unequal treatment of other federal workers.
Excepted DHS employees (e.g., CBP and ICE) will continue receiving pay during DHS funding lapses, preventing immediate income loss and financial disruption for those frontline federal workers.
Contractors who support mission‑critical border operations will be eligible for payment during funding gaps, helping preserve operational capacity and continuity of border security missions.
Employees retained and paid during lapses remain eligible for statutory benefits (e.g., chapter 55 and 81 benefits), protecting benefits continuity for those workers despite a funding lapse.
Taxpayers may face additional unplanned costs because the Treasury pays salaries and contractor costs during shutdowns, increasing federal outlays without prior appropriation.
Guaranteeing pay for specific DHS components reduces the leverage that funding threats exert to resolve appropriations impasses, which could prolong shutdowns and their broader harms.
Exempting these payments from normal apportionment timing rules may complicate OMB oversight and weaken standard fiscal controls over outlays during lapses, increasing management and accountability risks.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes pay and certain benefits for specified CBP and ICE excepted employees and contractors during any DHS funding lapse and allows charging costs to later appropriations.
Authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to continue paying specified Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) excepted employees and certain contractors and to provide certain federal benefits during any lapse in DHS appropriations. It allows those payments to be charged to the applicable appropriation once Congress later enacts funding, exempts those expenditures from normal apportionment timing rules, and ends the authority once Congress enacts appropriations that do not include such amounts or provides the needed funding. The authority is limited to named components, defined classes of employees and contractors, and specific benefits under federal law; it includes definitional rules, a charging/backfill mechanism, and a termination condition tied to subsequent appropriations action.