H.R. 9828House119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Federal Employee Financial Protection Act of 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated July 28, 2026 at 5:23 AM UTC

The Federal Employee Financial Protection Act of 2026 would change the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that credit bureaus cannot report late‑payment or non‑payment information that results from a government shutdown affecting furloughed or unpaid federal workers. It treats those missed payments as if they were made on time and directs the CFPB to issue rules quickly. The bill also encourages private lenders to give temporary relief to these employees during shutdowns.

Key Provisions

Adds a new subsection to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that bars consumer reporting agencies from including any adverse credit item that stems from a late or missed payment made by a federal employee who was furloughed or forced to work without pay during a government shutdown.
Requires agencies to treat such late or missed payments as if they were made on time when creating consumer reports.
Defines “covered employee” as any federal worker furloughed or working without pay because of a lapse in appropriations, and “covered period” as the time of that lapse.
Orders the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue implementing rules within 30 days of the law’s enactment.
Includes a non‑binding congressional sense urging private lenders to offer temporary forbearance, waive late fees, and refrain from reporting adverse credit information for covered employees during the shutdown period.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Financial Services Committee

July 22, 2026

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

July 22, 2026

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Financial Services Committee

July 22, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued July 22, 2026

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 9828

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 22, 2026

Mr. Alford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit certain adverse information related to late or missed payments during a Government shutdown by a furloughed or unpaid Government employee from being included in consumer reports, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Federal Employee Financial Protection Act of 2026.

Protection of credit reporting

(a)

In general

Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(i)

Government shutdowns

(1)

In general

A consumer reporting agency may not make any consumer report containing an adverse item of information related to a late payment or nonpayment on an account of a covered employee that occurred during a covered period.

(2)

Treatment of certain payments

For purposes of making any consumer report, a consumer reporting agency shall treat any late payment or nonpayment described in paragraph (1) as if the consumer had made the payment.

(3)

Definitions

In this subsection:

(A)

Covered employee

The term covered employee means any employee of the Federal Government who is furloughed or required to work without pay during a lapse in appropriations.

(B)

Covered period

The term covered period means any period during which there is a lapse in appropriations resulting in delayed compensation to a covered employee.

(b)

Rulemaking

Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall issue rules to carry out the amendment made by this section.

Sense of Congress regarding private lenders

It is the sense of Congress that private lenders should—

(1)

provide temporary forbearance or payment flexibility to covered employees (as defined in section 605(i)(3) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act);

(2)

waive late fees and penalties incurred during the covered period (as defined in such section 605(i)(3)); and

(3)

refrain from furnishing adverse credit information related to late payments or nonpayments during the covered period.