What is the Shutdown Fairness Act 2025?
The GOP-backed bill would pay federal employees who are working during the government shutdown, with Republicans continuing to put pressure on Democrats to reopen the government.
The Shutdown Fairness Act 2025 is a GOP-backed bill that would pay federal employees who are working during the government shutdown, with Republicans continuing to put pressure on Democrats to reopen the government.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier this week announced the measure, Senate Bill 3012, as hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss their paychecks, while the military, while paid Oct. 15, face missing their Oct. 31 paychecks. This as families face food security issues, with SNAP benefits stretched thin.
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Senate Bill 3012, known as the S. 3012, is a measure that would pay federal employees who are working through the shutdown, including members of the military and contractors who support “excepted” work.
Majority Whip Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, said live on the Senate floor on Thursday, Oct. 23, that there was “no single argument against passing it immediately” since it would pay the troops, Coast Guard, Border Patrol, members of ICE, air traffic controllers, TSA agents at airports, and Capitol police officers in Washington, D.C.
The bill would provide “such sums as are necessary” to pay non-furloughed workers; however, Democrats have argued that all federal workers, including those on furlough, should be paid.
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The bill, sponsored by GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, applies only to “excepted” federal employees whose work is considered essential during a period of prolapsed funding. Those employees continue to work but cannot get back pay until the shutdown is over. Nonessential workers are placed on furlough, and also get back pay.
The bill was first proposed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune this week. The legislation requires the backing of Democrats, but some have warned the bill would give power to President Donald Trump.
“We know what will happen — any agencies that he doesn’t like won’t get paid,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters earlier this week, per CBS News.