← Back to Bills
S. 3001Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Shutdown Fairness Act

Sponsored by Ron JohnsonSen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Introduced October 9, 2025

AI-Generated Summary

Updated November 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM UTC

The Shutdown Fairness Act provides a way for federal agencies to keep paying workers who must continue essential duties when the government runs out of appropriated funding. It lets agencies use unallocated Treasury money to cover salaries and allowances for those “excepted” employees (including certain contractors) during a shutdown, and sets rules for when that funding ends and how it is later accounted for in regular appropriations.

Key Provisions

  • Defines “excepted employee” as a federal worker (or contractor supporting them) who the agency head determines must continue working during a lapse in appropriations, such as a shutdown.
  • Allows agencies to draw money from unallocated Treasury funds to pay the salaries and allowances of these excepted employees for any fiscal year when regular or continuing appropriations are not in effect.
  • The extra funding remains available until either a full appropriations bill (or continuing resolution) that includes or excludes those payments is enacted, whichever happens first.
  • If a continuing appropriations measure later covers the same purposes, agencies cannot use the shutdown‑funds for new obligations, and any expenses already incurred are later charged to the regular appropriations once they are enacted.

Legislative Activity

Stay on top of the latest movement without scrolling through every action

1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

Appropriations Committee

October 9, 2025

View full timeline
SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

October 9, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

Appropriations Committee

October 9, 2025

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

Reading Mode
Latest
Raw Text PDF XML
Introduced in SenateIssued October 9, 2025

II

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3001

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 9, 2025

Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations

A BILL

To appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Shutdown Fairness Act.

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; and

(2)

the term excepted employee—

(A)

means an employee of an agency who the head of that agency determines is an excepted employee or an employee performing emergency work, as those terms are defined by the Office of Personnel Management; and

(B)

includes a contractor who—

(i)

provides support to an employee described in subparagraph (A); and

(ii)

is required to perform work during a lapse in appropriations, as determined by the head of the agency with respect to which the contractor provides support.

(b)

Appropriations

For fiscal year 2026, or any fiscal year thereafter, for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for that fiscal year are not in effect for an agency, there are appropriated to the head of the agency, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to excepted employees of the agency who are required to perform work during that period.

(c)

Termination

Appropriations and funds made available and authority granted under subsection (b) shall be available to the head of an agency until whichever of the following first occurs:

(1)

The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) that provide amounts for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b).

(2)

The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) without any appropriation for such purposes.

(d)

Subsequent lapses

Appropriations made available under subsection (b) may not be obligated by the head of an agency during any period during which continuing appropriations for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b) are in effect for the agency.

(e)

Charging to full-Year appropriations

Expenditures made by the head of an agency pursuant to subsection (b) shall be charged to the applicable appropriation for the agency whenever a regular appropriation bill or a measure making continuing appropriations until the end of the applicable fiscal year for the agency becomes law.