Despite failed Senate vote, lawmakers ‘hopeful’ to reach bipartisan deal to pay federal government

A Republican measure to immediately pay federal employees who are working without pay during the shutdown failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday. But some lawmakers still appear optimistic that a bipartisan deal on federal employee pay will be reached in the coming days.

Democrats largely voted against the GOP’s “Shutdown Fairness Act,” resulting in a 54-45 vote in the Senate. The Republican motion on the bill failed to reach the 60 votes required to “invoke cloture” — a type of vote that limits debate to more quickly bring legislation to a final vote.

Three Democrats – Senators John Fetterman (Democrat of Pennsylvania), Jon Ossoff (Democrat of Georgia) and Raphael Warnock (Democrat of Georgia) – voted alongside Republicans on the motion. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) did not vote.

The GOP-led legislation would immediately pay excluded employees, who continued to work throughout the funding period. But some Senate Democrats have touted the Shutdown Fairness Act as a method of giving President Donald Trump more power to pay — or not pay — certain federal employees throughout the shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill a “ruse.”

“This is nothing more than another tool Trump has to harm federal workers and American families and to keep this shutdown going for as long as he wants,” Schumer said Thursday. “We will not give Donald Trump the right to play politics with people’s livelihoods.”

Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) and Gary Peters (D-Michigan) proposed two alternatives in the Senate before the vote on the Shutdown Fairness Act. Republicans rejected both Democratic proposals.

Democrats’ “True Shutdown Fairness Act” would provide immediate pay to furloughed and exception employees — as well as military members and federal contractors. The bill would also prevent the Trump administration from moving forward with reductions in force (RIF) during the shutdown. Some 4,000 RIF notices that agencies sent to federal employees earlier this month are largely blocked, at least temporarily, by a court order.

Separately, Democrats’ “Military and Federal Employees Protection Act” is a more tailored bill that would simply pay furloughed and excluded federal employees, as well as contractors and military members, dating back to the start of the shutdown on October 1.

Van Hollen challenged Republicans’ Shutdown Fairness Act for not including pay for furloughed employees and for not containing provisions preventing the Trump administration from conducting RIFs during the funding period.

“If you allow them to decide who they’re going to keep in the federal government and who they’re going to pay, you’re also giving them a blank check as to who they’re going to send home and who they’re going to punish by not paying,” Van Hollen said. “The proposals we are putting forward say that during this government shutdown, federal employees – and yes, some federal contractors who have nothing to do with the political situation we face – should not be the ones carrying the burden.”

Despite Thursday’s failed votes, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), lead co-sponsor of the Shutdown Fairness Act, expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal could be reached to pay federal workers while the shutdown continues.

“We basically agree on this,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m willing to add furloughed workers, and now it’s just a matter of downsizing…I don’t want to completely constrain the president, but I don’t mind making sure Congress has a say as well.”

“I’m actually hopeful – I think we can resolve this over the weekend,” Johnson added. “It could also pave the way for opening up government.” »

Many federal employees expect not to receive their first full paycheck in the coming days. Excluded and furloughed federal employees are guaranteed retroactive pay once the shutdown ends, due to a 2019 law. The White House has questioned this guarantee for furloughed employees, but many objected to what they described as a blatant misinterpretation of the law by the Trump administration.

The Trump administration has overhauled funding to compensate certain groups in the federal workforce. Active duty military personnel received their paychecks on October 15. About 70,000 Department of Homeland Security law enforcement officers were also paid on time, although many DHS employees were still excluded from those payments.

Dave Spero, national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union, which represents about 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense employees, said lawmakers’ talk of salary legislation distracts from the “real problem.”

“Obviously we want people to get paid, but quite honestly what we want is for the shutdown to end,” Spero said. “We don’t want other types of bills to come into play to mitigate the impacts of the shutdown – stop the shutdown.”

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