WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bid Thursday to pay some federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown.
The bill failed to clear the 60-vote legislative filibuster, 54-45, with only three Democrats — Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) — breaking ranks in backing the measure.
Notably, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the sole Republican to join Dems in blocking a House-passed bill to fund the government through Nov. 21, voted to advance the bill.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) rolled out the Shutdown Fairness Act last week to guarantee checks for active-duty military and “excepted employees” who have been forced to work without pay during the government shutdown.
“We are forcing about 2.8 million federal workers to work. Military, law enforcement, people who write Social Security checks, air traffic controllers, keeping our skies safe,” Johnson said in a floor speech ahead of the vote.
“We’re not paying them. That’s absurd. Now, what’s even more absurd is they will get paid, whether they’re working or furloughed.”
“Excepted” federal workers refers to essential personnel as determined by the independent Office of Personnel Management.
Under the Government Fair Treatment Act of 2019, federal workers are required to get back pay after the conclusion of a government shutdown, leading Johnson to argue that his measure would not cost taxpayers extra.
Earlier this month, the administration redirected unspent Pentagon research and development money to pay active-duty service members Oct. 15. It is unclear whether a similar measure will be used to meet the next paycheck date Oct. 31.
Thursday marked day 23 of the government shutdown, the second-longest funding lapse in US history.
Republicans hoped Johnson’s bill would alleviate the pain the shutdown has caused to government workers while putting Democrats on the spot.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had pledged to call the lower chamber back into session to pass the measure if it cleared the Senate. The House has been out of session since Sept. 19.
Prior to the vote on Johnson’s bill, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) unsuccessfully sought a vote on his alternative bill, The True Shutdown Fairness Act, which would have paid all federal workers and contractors during the shutdown and blocked the Trump administration from carrying out mass layoffs.
“Ron Johnson’s bill would essentially weaponize the government shutdown to allow President Trump to decide who works and gets paid and who doesn’t work and doesn’t get paid,” Van Hollen complained.
“Our belief is that no federal employee, no one should bear the burden or be punished for a shutdown they have nothing to do with. So our view is that we want to make sure everybody gets paid at the end of the day.”
