True Shutdown Fairness Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3039 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3039

To appropriate funds for pay and allowances of Federal employees during 
  the lapse in appropriations that began on October 1, 2025, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 23, 2025

 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Peters, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Warner, Ms. 
Alsobrooks, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Kim, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Lujan, 
   Mr. Padilla, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Coons, Ms. Warren, Mr. Markey, Ms. 
 Duckworth, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Welch, Ms. Smith, Ms. Hirono, Mr. 
   Heinrich, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Kelly, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
 Merkley, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Booker, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. 
Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
     to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To appropriate funds for pay and allowances of Federal employees during 
  the lapse in appropriations that began on October 1, 2025, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``True Shutdown Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``agency'' means each authority of the 
        executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of 
        the United States;
            (2) the term ``covered individual''--
                    (A) means each employee of an agency, without 
                regard to whether, during the period of the covered 
                lapse in appropriations with respect to that agency 
                occurring before the date of enactment of this Act--
                            (i) the head of that agency determined that 
                        the individual was an excepted employee or an 
                        employee performing emergency work, as those 
                        terms are defined by the Office of Personnel 
                        Management; or
                            (ii) the individual was subject to 
                        furlough; and
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) a contractor who provides support to an 
                        employee described in subparagraph (A);
                            (ii) a member of the Armed Forces on active 
                        duty; and
                            (iii) a member of a reserve component who, 
                        during the covered lapse in appropriations with 
                        respect to the applicable agency, performs 
                        active service or inactive-duty training;
            (3) the term ``covered lapse in appropriations'' means, 
        with respect to an agency, the lapse in appropriations with 
        respect to that agency beginning on October 1, 2025, and ending 
        on the termination date; and
            (4) the term ``termination date'' means the date on which, 
        after the start of the covered lapse in appropriations--
                    (A) there are enacted into law appropriations for 
                the agency (including a continuing appropriation) that 
                provide amounts for the purposes for which amounts are 
                made available under subsection (b); or
                    (B) there are enacted into law appropriations for 
                the agency (including a continuing appropriation) 
                without any appropriation for such purposes.
    (b) Appropriations.--For fiscal year 2026, there are appropriated 
to the head of each agency with respect to which there is a covered 
lapse in appropriations, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, such sums as are necessary to provide, with respect to 
the covered lapse in appropriations, standard rates of pay, allowances, 
pay differentials, benefits, and other payments otherwise payable on a 
regular basis to covered individuals with respect to the agency.
    (c) Termination.--Appropriations and funds made available and 
authority granted under subsection (b) shall be available to the head 
of an agency until the termination date.
    (d) Charge to Future Appropriations.--Expenditures made pursuant to 
this Act shall be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or 
authorization whenever a bill in which such applicable appropriation, 
fund, or authorization is enacted into law.
    (e) Retroactive Effective Date.--This section shall take effect as 
if enacted on September 30, 2025.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON REDUCTIONS IN FORCE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``agency'' and 
``covered lapse in appropriations'' have the meanings given those terms 
in section 2(a).
    (b) Prohibition.--During the covered lapse in appropriations, none 
of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to--
            (1) propose or implement a reduction in force, or any 
        similar effort, to permanently reduce the number of employees 
        employed by an agency; or
            (2) place any employee of an agency in administrative leave 
        for more than 10 work days in any calendar year.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
to affect a voluntary separation payment offered to an employee under 
section 3523 of title 5, United States Code.
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