1.4 million federal workers await backpay after missing two full paychecks during shutdown
Federal workers wait for backpay as agencies struggle to process wages after longest shutdown
The 2025 government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 when Congress failed to pass appropriations for the new fiscal year. It lasted 43 days — the longest shutdown in U.S. history, surpassing the 35-day shutdown of 2018-2019. Congress passed a continuing resolution on Nov. 12, 2025, funding most agencies through Jan. 30, 2026, and fully funding the VA, Agriculture Department, and legislative branch.
Key Concepts
Essential concepts and terms to understand this topic
Government Shutdown
A lapse in federal funding when Congress fails to pass appropriations bills before the fiscal year deadline.
Continuing Resolution
A temporary spending bill that keeps the government funded when full appropriations bills haven't passed.
Key People
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Donald Trump
President of the United States
Trump signed the continuing resolution on Nov. 12, 2025, ending the shutdown he presided over — the longest in U.S. history. His administration's October rescission authority, affirmed by the Supreme Court in September 2025, became a major sticking point in negotiations. Senate Democrats feared that any spending they negotiated into a deal could be unilaterally withheld after passage. Trump also signed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' on July 4, 2025, which did not extend ACA subsidies — the core Democratic demand that deadlocked the shutdown for six weeks.
John Thune
Senate Majority Leader (R-SD)
Thune managed the Republican strategy throughout the shutdown, repeatedly bringing continuing resolutions to the Senate floor — 14 times total before a deal was struck. He refused to include ACA subsidy extensions in any funding bill, insisting negotiations on healthcare would happen only after government reopened. He ultimately brokered the Nov. 9 bipartisan deal in which Senate Democrats' key concession was a separate mid-December vote on ACA subsidies. Speaker Johnson was not part of these negotiations.
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Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader (D-NY)
Schumer led Senate Democratic resistance to a clean continuing resolution throughout October. He expressed particular concern about Trump's rescission authority — arguing that Democrats couldn't negotiate spending into a bill that the president could then unilaterally withhold. When the Nov. 9 bipartisan deal emerged, Schumer accepted the compromise of a separate December vote on ACA subsidies in exchange for reopening the government, drawing criticism from some progressives.
Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House (R-LA)
Johnson passed the shutdown-ending continuing resolution in the House on Nov. 12 with a 222-209 vote — a narrow margin that required six Democrats to cross the aisle. Johnson was notably excluded from the Senate bipartisan negotiations brokered by Thune, Shaheen, and Hassan. He also refused to promise a House vote on ACA subsidy extensions, unlike Senate Republicans who had pledged one for mid-December.
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Jeanne Shaheen
U.S. Senator (D-NH)
Shaheen was one of the three Senate Democrats who brokered the Nov. 9 bipartisan agreement alongside Sen. Angus King and Sen. Maggie Hassan. She was among the eight Senate Democrats who voted on Nov. 9 to advance the continuing resolution. Her role as deal-maker put her in direct tension with the majority of Senate Democrats who held out for ACA subsidy protections.
Maggie Hassan
U.S. Senator (D-NH)
Hassan co-brokered the Nov. 9 bipartisan deal with Shaheen and King. She crossed the aisle to advance the CR, accepting the Republican promise of a separate December vote on ACA subsidies rather than insisting the subsidies be included in the funding bill itself. Her state has a significant number of ACA marketplace enrollees who would face 114% premium increases if the subsidies expired.
Angus King
U.S. Senator (I-ME)
King was the third co-broker of the Nov. 9 bipartisan deal, joining Shaheen and Hassan to negotiate the CR's passage. As an independent who caucuses with Democrats, his participation helped frame the deal as a centrist, problem-solving compromise rather than a Democratic capitulation. He voted with the eight Democrats who advanced the CR on Nov. 9.
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Rand Paul
U.S. Senator (R-KY)
Paul was the only Senate Republican to vote against the continuing resolution, objecting to government spending levels regardless of the shutdown's consequences. His no vote was expected. He has voted against every CR in recent memory on libertarian fiscal grounds, making him an ideological outlier even within his own caucus.
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Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator (D-IL), Senate President Pro Tempore
Durbin was among the eight Senate Democrats who voted on Nov. 9 to advance the continuing resolution, breaking with the Democratic majority that had held out for ACA subsidy protections. His vote — as the chamber's president pro tempore and a senior Democratic figure — gave the deal significant institutional credibility.
John Fetterman
U.S. Senator (D-PA)
Fetterman was one of the eight Senate Democrats who crossed over to advance the CR on Nov. 9, consistent with his pattern of breaking with progressive Democrats on key votes. His vote was politically significant because he had faced Democratic base pressure throughout the shutdown to hold firm on ACA subsidy protections.
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Tim Kaine
U.S. Senator (D-VA), author of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019
Kaine wrote the 2019 law that mandates retroactive pay for furloughed federal workers. He voted for the shutdown-ending deal, in part to ensure enforcement of his own law after the OMB's October memo threatened to deny automatic backpay. Kaine's Virginia district includes one of the largest concentrations of federal workers in the country.
Chris Van Hollen
U.S. Senator (D-MD)
Van Hollen voted against the shutdown-ending CR, arguing it didn't go far enough to protect the civil service and ACA enrollees. Maryland has one of the highest concentrations of federal employees in the country — particularly in the Washington suburbs — making the shutdown's impact on his constituents especially severe. His no vote represented the view of Democrats who believed the deal rewarded Republican intransigence.
Jared Golden
U.S. Representative (D-ME)
Golden was one of six House Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote for the CR on Nov. 12, giving Johnson the narrow 222-209 majority he needed. After the vote, Golden called on Congress to pass a bipartisan one-year ACA subsidy extension, noting he had co-sponsored such legislation in September. His vote was controversial in Democratic circles.
Thomas Massie
U.S. Representative (R-KY)
Massie was one of two House Republicans — along with Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) — who voted against the CR on Nov. 12. His no vote was on fiscal grounds, consistent with his record of opposing government spending bills. His and Steube's defections meant Johnson could afford only two more Republican defections while relying on six Democrats.
Russell Vought
Director, Office of Management and Budget
Vought's OMB produced the October 2025 draft memo arguing the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act did not automatically guarantee retroactive pay for furloughed workers — a position that, if adopted, would have denied backpay to hundreds of thousands of employees. The final CR explicitly overruled this interpretation and required the White House to notify Congress once backpay was delivered. Vought also oversaw the OMB agency-by-agency payroll processing guidance after the shutdown ended.
Brooke Rollins
Secretary of Agriculture
Rollins managed the shutdown's most politically explosive dimension: the lapse of SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans. She estimated it would cost $9.2 billion to keep benefits flowing through November using the USDA's contingency fund. She publicly said the administration lacked legal authority to tap those funds without congressional approval, and ordered states that had pre-issued SNAP benefits to stop. The Supreme Court backed her position in September.
Kristi Noem
Secretary of Homeland Security
Noem's department had the highest rate of 'excepted' employees among all agencies — roughly 95% of DHS's 272,000 employees continued working without pay, including TSA officers and CBP agents. After the shutdown ended, she announced a $10,000 bonus for TSA officers. DHS processed backpay on an accelerated schedule relative to other agencies.
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Doreen Greenwald
National President, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)
Greenwald publicly called out the IRS after it initially told workers they wouldn't receive backpay until Nov. 24. After NTEU's complaint, the IRS moved its target to Nov. 19. She warned that workers presenting IOUs to landlords faced real eviction risk. The NTEU represents 150,000 employees across 35 federal agencies.
Glenn Youngkin
Governor of Virginia
Youngkin launched the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) initiative to replace SNAP benefits for Virginia residents during the shutdown. Virginia has one of the highest concentrations of federal workers in the country, particularly in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington. His action was notable as a Republican governor who broke with the Trump administration's position on SNAP.
Wes Moore
Governor of Maryland
Moore released $62 million in state funds to offset the loss of November federal SNAP funding for Maryland residents. Like Youngkin, he acted because USDA had ordered states to stop pre-issuing SNAP benefits. Maryland borders Washington, D.C., and is home to hundreds of thousands of federal workers and government contractors who felt the shutdown's economic impact acutely.
John Kennedy
U.S. Senator (R-LA)
On Nov. 6 — as the shutdown was on track to become the longest in history — Kennedy introduced two bills that would prevent members of Congress from receiving pay during a government shutdown. The legislation was widely seen as a pressure tactic on colleagues rather than a serious legislative effort. It highlighted public frustration that elected officials continued collecting paychecks while federal workers went without.
What you can do
Contact your representative to co-sponsor legislation preventing future shutdowns
civic action
The 2025 shutdown was the longest in history and caused $14 billion in withheld wages. Several proposals exist to prevent future shutdowns, including automatic continuing resolutions that keep the government funded at prior-year levels when Congress misses deadlines. Citizens can ask their representatives to support these reforms.
Track whether your agency's backpay was fully processed and file a complaint if not
civic action
The 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act requires backpay 'at the earliest date possible.' Federal employees who believe their backpay was delayed or incorrect can file a grievance through their union or contact the Office of Personnel Management.
Support your local food bank serving furloughed federal workers
community action
Food banks in federal-heavy areas like suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia saw massive demand spikes during the 43-day shutdown. Many organizations that mobilized during the shutdown still need support as workers recover financially.