Sponsors (14)
The bill preserves pay and operational continuity for federal employees, contractors, and military personnel during funding lapses (reducing service disruption and retroactive payment uncertainty) at the cost of increased immediate Treasury outlays, added fiscal/accounting complexity, and weaker incentives for timely appropriations.
Federal employees and contractors required to perform 'excepted' work continue to receive regular pay and benefits without interruption (including retroactive coverage to Sept 30, 2025), reducing payment uncertainty for pay periods spanning funding lapses.
Agencies can maintain staffing and operations for essential functions during funding lapses, lowering the risk of service disruptions that would harm the public.
Active-duty service members are explicitly covered as 'excepted,' preserving military pay continuity even when civilian appropriations lapse and avoiding disruptions to military personnel compensation.
Taxpayers could immediately fund payroll outlays from the Treasury during shutdowns, increasing federal outlays without contemporaneous appropriations.
Taxpayers and the public may face longer or more frequent funding gaps because maintaining pay continuity reduces pressure on Congress to pass timely appropriations.
Federal agencies and overseers face greater fiscal accounting complexity because Treasury-funded payments during lapses must later be charged to enacted appropriations, complicating budgeting and oversight.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Automatically funds pay and related regular payments for excepted federal employees, required contractors, and active-duty members during funding lapses, retroactive to Sept 30, 2025.
Official title: Shutdown Fairness Act
Introduced October 15, 2025 by Ron Johnson · Last progress October 15, 2025
Provides automatic funding to keep pay and related regular payments flowing to excepted federal employees, required contractors who must work during a lapse, and active-duty service members when interim or full-year appropriations lapse, starting retroactively on September 30, 2025. Funds are drawn from the Treasury as needed and terminate once Congress enacts regular or continuing appropriations for those purposes. Specifies which workers and payments qualify, requires that any amounts paid under this authority be charged to the eventual full-year appropriation when enacted, and prevents obligations under this authority while continuing appropriations covering the same purposes are in effect.