Senate Rejects Bill to Pay Troops, Active Federal Workers During Shutdown

WASHINGTON—A bill to pay U.S. troops and active federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown failed to garner the support it needed to advance in an Oct. 23 vote.

The Republican-led legislation, titled the “Shutdown Fairness Act,” failed on a cloture vote of 54–45, coming short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joined the majority of Republicans supporting the bill. Fetterman has also voted in favor of Republican-led measures to reopen the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who had expressed support for the bill, changed his vote to a “no” before the end of voting as part of a procedural move allowing him to make a subsequent motion to reconsider the bill at a later time.

The vote comes as the current lapse in federal funding, which began on Oct. 1, has now stretched into the second-longest shutdown in U.S. history. There have been 12 votes to temporarily fund and reopen the government during the shutdown, but they, too, have failed to overcome the 60-vote threshold.

Congressional Republicans have preferred to pass what they term a “clean” continuing resolution, with no policy additions, to fund the government. Democrats have sought to reinstate health care provisions, including enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies, that are set to expire on Dec. 31 following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act this summer.

Introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the Shutdown Fairness Act would cover pay for U.S. military personnel and “excepted” federal workers for the period covering the start of the shutdown through the duration of the ongoing lapse in federal funds.

“Excepted” federal workers are those deemed essential, who are directed to continue working during a lapse in government funding. Under the current laws, these federal workers can expect to continue to work without pay, receiving back pay only after the shutdown ends.

Other federal workers, who are deemed “nonessential,” are furloughed and do not continue to work during lapses in government funding. Congress passed legislation in 2019 guaranteeing back pay for furloughed government employees after a shutdown ends.

Congressional Democrats had raised objections over Johnson’s bill not covering pay for all federal workers during the shutdown.

Ahead of the cloture vote on Johnson’s bill, Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) announced that they had prepared alternative proposals to pay all federal workers during the shutdown.

“Our proposal doesn’t discriminate among federal employees,” Van Hollen said in a Senate floor speech on Oct. 23.

Van Hollen’s bill, dubbed the “True Shutdown Fairness Act,” also includes a provision to block the president from being able to fire federal workers during a shutdown. Van Hollen sought unanimous consent for his competing proposal, but Johnson objected.

Thune said if Democrats are concerned about making sure all federal workers are paid, they should support a Republican-led “clean” continuing resolution. 

“The clean CR would pay everyone. We just need five more Democrats to support it,” Thune said.

Commenting on his decision to cross the aisle and vote for Johnson’s bill, Warnock told reporters that he believes that Republicans are still to blame for the ongoing shutdown, but that “doesn’t mean that these workers ought to be punished.”

“And so some of these folks that they’re holding hostage had a path to get some relief. I’m happy to offer that to them,” Warnock said.