Shutdown Fairness Act
Latest action · Oct 21, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 21, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
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.
Cosponsors 17
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 21, 2025 to Feb 11, 2026; 8 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-GA | Austin Scott | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-CA | Darrell Issa | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-IA | Mariannette Miller-Meeks | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-NY | Michael Lawler | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-PA | Ryan Mackenzie | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-OK | Stephanie I. Bice | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-WI | Tony Wied | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-KS | Tracey Mann | Original | Oct 21, 2025 |
| R-WI | Bryan Steil | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-PA | Daniel Meuser | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-IN | Mark B. Messmer | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-GA | Rick W. Allen | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-VA | Robert J. Wittman | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-OH | Warren Davidson | Oct 24, 2025 | |
| R-IN | Jefferson Shreve | Oct 28, 2025 | |
| R-KS | Derek Schmidt | Oct 31, 2025 | |
| R-NE | Don Bacon | Feb 11, 2026 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Appropriations Committee | Referred Oct 21, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 21, 2025Introduced in House
- Oct 21, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 174, October 21, 2025, page H4548.
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 3001 | Shutdown Fairness Act | Related bill | Oct 9, 2025 |
| S 3012 | Shutdown Fairness Act | Identical bill | Nov 7, 2025 |
| S 3066 | Pay the People Act | Related bill | Oct 28, 2025 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Shutdown Fairness Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 21, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
