A Republican bill to immediately pay federal employees who are working throughout the government shutdown is heading toward a possible Senate vote \u2014 but Democrats are now working on an alternative that would include compensation for furloughed employees as well.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune placed the GOP-led Shutdown Fairness Act<\/a> on the Senate\u2019s calendar earlier this week to try to push the legislation toward a vote, likely on Thursday.<\/p>\n Many Senate Democrats, however, indicated they would not vote for the legislation, since it does not include immediate financial relief for the roughly 700,000 federal employees who are currently furloughed without pay.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like the bill because it gives the president the ability to decide who\u2019s essential and who\u2019s not, and what we see is he is using this in a political way,\u201d Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters Wednesday. \u201c[President Donald Trump] would use this discretionary power to punish some and reward others.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n Democrats are assembling a counterproposal to the legislation, which would provide immediate pay for furloughed employees \u2014 as well as pay for excepted employees. The effort is led by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), but it\u2019s so far unclear if the proposal will come as an amendment or a standalone bill.<\/p>\n Regardless of the tactic, Kaine said the Democrats\u2019 effort \u201cis an even-handed approach to paying federal employees who are affected by the shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n Both excepted and furloughed federal employees are guaranteed retroactive pay once a shutdown ends, due to a 2019 law. The White House has called that guarantee into question for furloughed employees, but many have pushed back against what they described as a clear misinterpretation of the law<\/a>\u00a0from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Military members, law enforcement officers, and certain categories of personnel at the Department of Homeland Security have already received paychecks under the shutdown, as the Trump administration shuffles funding<\/a> to compensate select groups of the federal workforce.<\/p>\n The Shutdown Fairness Act, if enacted, would immediately pay all \u201cexcepted\u201d federal employees as the shutdown continues. The legislation, first introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), would also provide retroactive compensation dating back to the start of the funding lapse on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) are leading the effort on the Shutdown Fairness Act\u2019s companion bill<\/a> in the House.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill stands up for those who show up \u2014 paying federal workers what we owe them, shutdown or not,\u201d Mackenzie said Tuesday.<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) said Wednesday that it supported the Shutdown Fairness Act. In a letter to senators, NARFE wrote<\/a> that the legislation would benefit excepted employees, while not adding further harm to furloughed employees. NARFE also pushed back against arguments that the legislation is politically charged.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bill does not single out favored political functions over disfavored ones, but rather focuses on a distinction between those required to work and those not,\u201d NARFE National President Bill Shackelford said. \u201cThat distinction is generally neutral with respect to the partisan political disputes regarding what the government should and should not do.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, though, NARFE acknowledged that passing legislation to pay federal employees may lessen the pressure on lawmakers to bring the shutdown to an end quickly. But the organization said it wouldn\u2019t oppose efforts that would pay federal employees during the funding lapse.<\/p>\n The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that advocates for non-partisan improvements to the federal government, also expressed at least some support<\/a> for the Shutdown Fairness Act. But the organization pointed out that it\u2019s an incomplete solution to supporting federal employees through the funding lapse, which has now stretched into its fourth week.<\/p>\n \u201cCareer federal employees, both military and civilian, should not bear the brunt of this dereliction of duty,\u201d said Max Stier, the Partnership\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cThe Shutdown Fairness Act partially remedies the financial harms for some federal employees but ought to apply to all public servants, who are victims rather than perpetrators of the shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n Although federal employees are given back pay once a shutdown ends, they still face delayed compensation in the meantime. Federal employees are bracing for their first fully missed paycheck at the end of this week. Many received their final and partial paychecks around Oct. 10.<\/p>\n Federal contract workers, some of whom are in lower-paying jobs<\/a> such as janitorial, food and security positions at federal facilities, are not extended the same guarantee of back pay.<\/p>\n