Interview transcript

Terry Gerton Timely payments, rescinding stop work orders, and monitoring long-term impacts are top priorities as agencies restart operations. We’ll also look at key takeaways from PSC’s Vision Conference with CEO Jim Carroll. Jim, thanks for joining me.

Jim Carroll Terry, thank you so much for having me on.

Terry Gerton You are coming off two days of the PSC Vision Conference. Let’s start there. What were the biggest insights that you heard over those two days of discussions?

Jim Carroll Well, I’ll say three insights. One was it was a brutal way to start the Monday after Thanksgiving holiday … But, we had to accommodate the really great speakers on — including really some wonderful keynote speakers. Next year it will not be the Monday after Thanksgiving. So for all of our members, you know, for this event, we’re thankfully able to get a better date. But more importantly, as I mentioned, really was hearing from some of the leadership in the administration about, what is their projections for 2026 and how the money, as being appropriated by Congress, as the budget request and where they expect it to go. And so, one was just the amount of money, which is something worth talking about. The other thing and is really the use of AI and how the embrace of AI by the federal government is rapid, but it’s also a bit unknown. We’re moving forward in this space of the government using AI without everyone necessarily understanding all the implications. So I think so far those are the two big takeaways that we’ve been able to summarize. And, it’s a great event for our members and a few guests.

Terry Gerton What did you hear about this administration’s take on industry partnerships?

Jim Carroll You know, I think we have to sort of look back at DoD. I think DoD with Secretary Hegseth is a good example of that. As you recall, in November, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with our members and the folks that do defense contracting and said that they really do want to do a radical revolutionary overhaul of the FAR, and especially, in the sense of producing deliverables and measuring outcomes based on performance and getting this done right and how the military, how the branches within DoD have been tasked with coming up with orders … by mid-January, 60 days, in terms of how they think we can best streamline the process. And our hope is that this proposal really has legs. And we think it does. There’s support in Capitol Hill. There’s support in the administration. And of course, we — the leading trade association for companies that do business with the federal government — we’re completely supportive of most of these changes. There are things that we’ve been asking for for years that would really expedite the awards. Hopefully, with the grace of God, cut down on the number of appeals following an award, which seems to be a bit of an epidemic of companies now just expect there to be an appeal. And so we’re really very hopeful that this will stick and we’re optimistic that it will. And so that’s one of the major things, and then of course, as I mentioned, the amount of money in government services. And there was discussion about that … this week from the assistant secretary of war, that you know, there really is going to be an extraordinary amount of money, $850 billion at DOD with at least $180 billion toward services. And that’s what our very, and I’m proud to say, patriotic, companies that want to do the right thing for the war fighter and the taxpayer are eager to jump on board.

Terry Gerton Speaking with Jim Carroll, CEO of the Professional Services Council. Jim, tell us more about what you heard about the deployment of AI from the government agencies and within the contractor community.

Jim Carroll Yeah, so within the government we had speakers from across the government. As I said, Assistant Secretary of War, Michael Cadenazzi, who handles the industrial base policy, talked about an initial $180 billion, $200 billion in services, and how the use of AI and services can change and how there needs to be flexibility because of AI, that when some of these contracts call for a hundred seats to be filled, that there is enough flexibility that contractors can come back to the government and say, hey, we’re gonna use some, you know, AI, some other advanced technology. We can reduce the number of personnel from a hundred to eighty people. And in the past there’s been some resistance. Both the Department of War and some of the other departments, you know, really stressed that they want flexibility because of AI. I’ll say one thing that was interesting, and we’ve seen and heard this from members, is that there are a fair number of new companies who have never put in bids for government work that are using AI to not only write their proposals, but as I mentioned, also the use of AI to appeal. I mean, it just seems like it’s a press of the AI button, if you will, and an appeal is generated. And we need to get away from that, you know, for valid, justifiable awards, let’s move forward and deliver good results. And so we’re very optimistic. The recognition that AI has some limitations to it, but that it can deliver fast results is something that will be very interesting to see in 2026.

Terry Gerton Jim, one of the things that you and I have talked about, we’ve talked about it with a lot of contracting folks on the show is the uncertainty about the federal government workload for contractors. I’m wondering what you heard from your members over the course of this conference, especially as we’re sitting right now just post-shutdown and possibly pre-shutdown in January. What what are you hearing and what is PSC’s advice?

Jim Carroll Terry, don’t jinx us. No more government shutdowns. No, we’re tracking January 30th very closely. We had very senior meetings in the White House in the West Wing with a couple different meetings because of the shutdown to talk about the impact that it is having on results and the impact it is having on protecting the homeland. And so, what we told them in addition to the impacts is when the government gets up and running, because shutdowns end. This was a record-breaking one, but shutdowns do end. And as soon as they end, you know, it’s to tell the individuals in the departments, immediately start processing these invoices, get these payments out the door. You know, there are a fair number of companies, especially in the small to mid-size, that really did not have stable cash flow. They really were hurting. We saw some layoffs or at least, you know, sidelining of key employees, and it really presented a huge financial strain on the companies, which flows down to the employees, which flows down to the communities. And so that’s what we asked for. We asked, in addition, that the momentum on getting contracts, new contracts out the door, be, you know, jump-started as fast as possible. Historically, it takes quite a while after a shutdown for things to resume sort of a normalcy. And, we don’t have time for that. In addition to the financial impact, truly the impact on national security. The world is facing new and dangerous threats that seem to be magnifying every day. And our contractors are able to deliver world-class results and protection. And unless they get up and running immediately, you know, those threats are very real.

Terry Gerton Are you seeing that kind of activity coming out of the government agencies now a couple of weeks on from shutdown?

Jim Carroll You know, we’re actually pleasantly surprised. And I hate to say that word surprised, but in the past, it does seem to be a bit of a lag. Our message seems to be delivered. We’re getting payments out quickly. Maybe not all and not every department, but it seems to be beating historic records in in terms of getting payments out. Obviously, some companies are still hurting, you know, waiting to get paid for work that they performed. But we’re happy so far. But Terry, I can’t believe you brought up January 30th of next year. You know, is this a lull between shutdowns? I hope not. I hope that they’re able to resolve, you know, some of the significant issues, healthcare, things like that. But as we’ve talked about, there’s not a lot of workdays up on Capitol Hill, and we just cannot have another shutdown.

The post PSC’s vision conference proved that forecasting government contractor workload for 2026 is no easy task first appeared on Federal News Network.

© Getty Images/Jacob Wackerhausen

Crypto firm Ripple has revealed how it is capturing the projected $16 trillion tokenization industry by onboarding several institutions onto the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The firm alluded to security and how its custody service is helping solve this issue. 

Ripple Comments On How It Is Capturing The Tokenization Industry Using XRP Ledger

In an X post, Ripple indicated that it has managed to capture some of the projected $16 trillion industry onto the XRP Ledger through the adequate security it provides institutions. The crypto firm stated that it provides a security environment that mirrors the rigor of the banks it serves, combining HSM with FIPS-certified hardware to deliver security that scales. That way, they can protect assets without sacrificing operational speed. 

Ripple further noted that legitimate integration with the global financial system requires verification. That is why they adhere to SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 standards, ensuring that the infrastructure of these institutions that tokenize on the XRP Ledger is compliant with necessary regulations.  

Commenting on this, Ripple’s Head of Information Security, Akshay Wattal, said that in crypto, security isn’t a feature but the foundation of institutional trust. He added that effective custody requires in-depth architecture, battle-tested cryptography, and the governance rigor of a global financial institution. 

Notably, Ripple provides custody solutions to global banks, including BBVA, SG Fogre, DBS Bank, and DZ Bank. However, these banks are yet to tokenize on the XRP Ledger even as institutions move to tap into this $16 trillion industry. The crypto firm continues to propose several ways to onboard these institutions onto the network. 

One of Ripple’s proposals is the introduction of Confidential Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs) on the XRP Ledger in order to provide privacy for these institutions. The company’s developer, Ayo Akinyele, also recently proposed native XRP staking on the network, which could compel these institutions to build on XRPL, as they can earn yields while doing so. 

Progress On Other Sides Of Its Business

In addition to its custody service, Ripple is also making progress in other areas of its operations, which also drives value to the XRP Ledger. The company announced yesterday that it had partnered with fintech company RedotPay, which has integrated Ripple Payments to launch a crypto conversion feature for Nigerian users. 

The development also provides a huge boost for XRP, which will be one of the supported assets on RedotPay’s “Send Crypto, Receive NGN” feature. Ripple revealed that there are plans to support its RLSUD stablecoin in the future. Meanwhile, Bitcoinist reported that the crypto firm had scored a major win after the Monetary Authority of Singapore approved an expanded scope of payment activities for the company. This enables Ripple to broaden the range of regulated payment services it offers in the country.

The federal offices are back open and hundreds of thousands of federal workers have returned to work after the longest shutdown in history. But nothing is back to normal — federal workers say morale and trust in leadership are at an all-time low, tensions are high between furloughed staff and those who worked through the shutdown, schedules are slipping and projects are being pushed back, and more people are accelerating their retirement plans or leaving federal service altogether.

The recent shutdown, however, has just exacerbated the existing problems and added to what federal workers described as an already extremely trying year for the federal workforce. 

“As if morale wasn’t already non-existent, it sure is now. I expect a surge of people to (quiet) quit and I expect the remaining players to be bombarded with work with no support or guidance from leadership,” one employee told Federal News Network. 

“The mission is dead. Operations are barely running. Morale is toast,” another federal worker said. 

“Everything about being a federal employee in 2025 has destroyed workforce morale — from constant [reduction-in-force] threats, to losing colleagues to early/forced retirements and firings, to the loss of any telework to facilitate work/life balance for working parents or senior caregivers, this is the worst professional year I have experienced in nearly 20 years of service to my country. Nothing about the current [Office of Management and Budget] approach to leadership has moved our country forward,” another employee said.

A Federal News Network survey, conducted online between Nov. 17-30, asked federal workers what it has been like going back to work after the 43-day government shutdown. Survey respondents were self-selected, and they self-reported information to verify their status as current federal employees.

Federal workers described the experience as disorienting — returning to thousands of unanswered emails and scrambling to catch up with partners who kept work moving during the shutdown. There was little to no guidance from top management; they reported overwhelming backlogs and project schedules going completely awry.

Many said overloaded or outdated IT systems, lapsed system access and computer issues made even basic tasks difficult.

“IT issues as devices are set to expire and become inactive after 30 days of non-use, supervisory chain is still not back to work and others are catching up on leave. There are large gaps within the higher chain of command, tremendous amount of confusion, no clear description of how to verify back pay and related deductions are accurate, statutory deadlines did not stop during the shutdown, so crushing workload to return to,” one employee said on Nov. 24. 

“It is not so simple as flipping a switch. We are still waiting on funds to arrive and are unable to work on things until those funds arrive,” another federal worker said on Nov. 18. 

“I engage in very technical work. A 1.5-month shutdown has thoroughly derailed my train of thought. It will take a long time to refamiliarize myself with what issues were being sorted out, what solutions I had been pursuing, even how any of my own code works,” another employee said. 

Several federal workers said their agencies could face budget cuts due to not hitting mandatory spending benchmarks — goals that are “impossible to achieve” after a 40-plus day lapse in appropriations.

In addition, many employees now have to use their “use-or-lose” annual leave before the end of the year, which will further delay progress and extend timelines.

Nearly 1,500 people responded to the survey. Out of 739 federal workers who responded to this question, nearly 47% of respondents said it would take them more than two weeks to catch up on all the work missed during the shutdown.

“My program was halted immediately, but will take two months to ramp back up,” one worker said. 

“Can you really ever catch up? Some work will just be lost — deprioritized in the chaos,” another federal employee said. 

And the threat of another shutdown is looming — the bill President Donald Trump signed into law keeps the government open only through Jan. 30. The uncertainty, workers say, is making people reluctant to fully dive back into work. 

“With holidays coming, this will set projects back months,” one employee said. 

Federal employees who worked during the shutdown also expressed “apathy and annoyance” toward furloughed employees who did not work during the shutdown, saying the resentment has led to conflicts and made collaboration difficult. 

“Expect operations to be negatively affected as the furlough has driven a wedge between those furloughed employees and those who remained on the job,” one federal employee said.

Receiving back pay

Most of the federal workers worked without pay during the shutdown, missing more than four weeks of pay. 

When the government reopened on Nov. 13, the Office of Personnel Management said it would take several business days for workers to get their back pay.

Out of 728 individuals, 200 federal workers — about 27.5% — said they received their back pay within one-to-three days after returning to work. Another 200 said they were paid within four-to-seven days. For the remaining 323 individuals, it took more than a week to receive their back pay.

Many employees told Federal News Network that there was a lot of confusion about how to process timesheets and guidance changed a few times the first two days, which had contributed to the delay in issuing our pay.

“Smithsonian still has not managed to get us paid. They are wasting time making sure everyone has the correct time codes rather than getting people paid. It’s more important to them that they take a couple weeks to record we were furloughed. Can’t pay the mortgage, but at least they’ll have the correct time code,” one employee said on Nov. 22.

One Interior Department employee told Federal News Network on Dec. 1 the agency had only paid them for 72 hours worked during the shutdown and had promised the remainder by Nov. 25 — they are still waiting on that payment. They added that none of the 69 civilian employees at the U.S. Park Police have been fully paid. Sworn officers, however, received a flat 80 hours per pay period, and while overtime and night-differential corrections were made, it’s not clear if that pay had been issued. 

“We have not heard anything about when we will be paid beyond the deadline that passed a week ago, no reason has been provided to explain the delay,” the employee said. “I will be retiring early. While not the only reason, the recent hijinks played a role in my decision.”

One employee at INTERPOL Washington told Federal News Network on Dec. 1 that personnel there have received only partial back pay and some employees have only received pay for one pay period. The issue stems from the Justice Department’s decision to dismantle INTERPOL Washington and fold its remaining functions into the U.S. Marshals Service during the shutdown — while making changes in the pay system while payroll processing was underway.

The workers were initially told they would receive all of their back pay on Nov. 21, but instead received partial pay on Nov. 24. DOJ then promised the rest by Nov. 28, but only a handful of people were paid over that weekend. The agency now says it has finally identified the problem and that employees should be paid by Dec. 3.

“Every time that the DOJ claims to find a solution and puts another date out for when we should get paid, there is just another disappointment,” the INTERPOL Washington employee said.

Another Air Force civilian at Lackland Air Force Base, who was told they would be paid last week, is still waiting for their back pay now nearly three weeks after the shutdown ended. On Monday, they were told that “the comptroller squadron is working diligently to manually process over 3,000 timecards with an estimated completion date of Nov. 29.” 

For many of those who received back pay, determining whether the amount was correct was nearly impossible. 

Dozens of respondents said they were unsure if their payments were accurate because agencies did not issue accompanying paystubs for the affected pay periods. Several employees said since payroll providers such as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service do not provide leave and earnings statements for retroactive pay, meaning they will have to wait for the next pay period to verify whether the amount is correct.

“It seems to be off by a few hundred dollars, but I can’t determine where the discrepancy is,” one federal worker said on Nov. 26. 

“We don’t know since it was a partial payment with no documentation,” another respondent said on Nov. 24. 

“Many people at work say that their paychecks were less due to taxes on lump sum payouts,” another respondent said on Nov. 25.

More feds eyeing the exit

Federal workers were already overwhelmed, stretched thin and struggling with high levels of anxiety following the Trump administration’s push to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Now, the shutdown is pushing even more people out the door. 

Out of 758 federal workers, 329 respondents — about 43.4% — said that the shutdown made them reconsider staying in federal service.

Many said they are actively looking for an out, while for others the shutdown reinforced their decision to retire

“It is so untenable that I plan to quit in the next month or so. The situation has gotten even worse since returning,” one employee said.

“The shutdown did solidify that I will retire the first date I can,” a federal worker said.

“I have dedicated 20 years to serving my country, including service in the U.S. Army. It’s pretty thankless to be a federal civilian employee now. I used to encourage my children to pursue a similar career but now I am encouraging them to stay away from federal service,” another employee said. 

Financial, mental health toll

More than half of federal employees — 58% of respondents — reported experiencing financial challenges during the shutdown, and nearly a third said they struggled to pay bills. Over 51% of federal workers said they had to rely on credit cards, loans or emergency savings to pay their bills, while 14% reported missing rent, mortgage or other payments. About 10% of federal workers said they needed outside assistance, such as food banks and relief programs. But notably, nearly 62% said the shutdown impacted their mental health.

Several respondents said they dipped into retirement accounts or cleared out emergency savings to stay afloat, while others reported delaying Christmas shopping, postponing home repairs or borrowing from family members to cover basic needs. Younger workers and those in single-income households were hit especially hard.

And while some said they were fortunate enough to have savings or a second household income, many still described the experience as deeply destabilizing. 

“Fortunately, we are a two-income, no-child household and good savers. But I did give a monetary gift to a colleague who is in a much more tenuous situation,” a federal worker said.

“I requested a skip loan payment on my car since I could without fees. I have paid for things out of savings and since I’m a bit older I can do that, but I’m depleting savings still as I continue to not be paid,” one employee said.

“Outsiders calling it a ‘free vacation’ don’t understand the effects the shutdown has on furloughed staff,” another employee said. 

 Workers described experiencing “constant dread and worry,” “incredible stress and anxiety” and “the feeling of absolutely no protections.”

“It was very stressful. I had to take a part-time job,” one employee said. 

Ultimately, one worker said, the impacts were “cruel and petty and proved to be irrelevant to either side achieving their stated goals.”

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

The post ‘The mission is dead’: Federal workers say the shutdown made an ‘extremely trying year’ worse first appeared on Federal News Network.

© The Associated Press

I was not eager to make mobile payments by tapping my phone against a terminal, but once I started, I quickly stopped reaching for my wallet. Now I no longer reach for my phone, either. There’s an even faster way to pay that has led me to increasingly keep my phone in my pocket.

The pathway to acquiring Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has often been perceived as complex, involving multiple steps. However, a monumental shift is now underway as Apple Pay has integrated into leading crypto platforms, and getting a major upgrade is becoming as seamless and intuitive as any other digital transaction. This integration removes one of the biggest barriers to entry by replacing traditional transactions.

Why Apple’s Entry Signals A Turning Point For Global Crypto Payments

Apple Pay is now directly integrated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A crypto site, CryptosRus, has revealed on X that Apple users can now purchase BTC and other cryptocurrencies directly within Trust Wallet using Apple Pay. This integration will make buying crypto as easy as buying Apps from the App Store, dramatically lowering friction for newcomers with no more clunky bank transfers, complex onboarding forms, and steep learning curves.

With a few simple taps via Apple Pay, the crypto will be in your Trust Wallet. In short, Apple is helping to replace fear and friction with just tap-and-own simplicity. This Apple Pay and crypto is the kind that will seamlessly onramp.

Bitcoin and crypto adoption are sharply gaining traction globally. In a surprising turn for one of the world’s most tightly controlled economies, Turkmenistan has officially legalized Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrency trading. CryptosRus stated that President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has signed a new Sweeping bill that sets the stage for a fully regulated crypto market to begin in 2026.

The new law establishes a dedicated state Commission that will oversee licensing, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) protocols, cold-storage rules, mining registration, and even the power to halt or require refunds for token issuances. According to CryptoRus, this is a sign that even the most controlled states are being pushed into crypto adoption as the global regulation accelerates.

Bitcoin Decentralized Rails More Resilient Than TradFi Hardware?

An author and ideologist, Shanaka Anslem Perera, pointed out that the day $13.4 billion in Bitcoin options expired, the traditional financial system nearly collapsed. At the crucial hour of 03:00 GMT, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) froze, a cooling failure originating from a single data center. The failure led to 90% of global derivatives trading being halted. 

Meanwhile, a larger sum of $15 billion in crypto options was settled on time, with each block confirmed and every trade seamlessly executed. The machines that price the world stopped working because they were overheated, and the decentralized alternative rails ran exactly as designed. “This isn’t a coincidence, it’s a stress test, and only one system passed the test,” Shanaka noted.

• Individuals can now buy crypto on Trust Wallet using Apple Pay.
• The feature is currently available in more than 45 countries.
• Such updates reduce entry barriers into the crypto and blockchain world.

Trust Wallet, one of the reputable digital asset wallets, has made another step toward promoting cryptocurrency adoption.

It has confirmed adding Apple Pay today, November 27, on X, allowing individuals in more than 45 countries to purchase their favourite virtual tokens within seconds.

Notably, the new feature promises an enhanced experience for new and existing users. The announcement read:

Trust Wallet has integrated Apple Pay. Buy your first crypto in seconds. Available in 45+ countries.

Indeed, purchasing digital tokens has been challenging for newbies, with lengthy verification procedures, numerous account setups, and limited payment methods often discouraging them.

Trust Wallet wants to address this challenge. With the integration of Apple Pay, it aims to make digital assets more accessible than ever, as individuals can now buy their “first crypto in seconds.”

How to get started

Depositing funds in a Trust Wallet account using Apple Pay is straightforward.

Users only need to open the app, visit the ‘Fund’ tab, and choose Apple Pay as the desired payment option.

Everything takes a few taps, mirroring the smooth experience when using Apply Pay for day-to-day purchases.

Most importantly, Trust Wallet benefits from Apple Pay’s credibility and security features, which include Touch ID, encrypted payments, and Face ID.

That promises streamlined crypto purchases that don’t compromise user safety.

Trust Wallet expands footprint globally

The team confirmed that users in more than 45 countries can access the Apple Pay transaction option.

Trust Wallet is lowering barriers to joining crypto, which will likely make it an entry point for millions who have struggled to access the digital assets market.

Individuals in jurisdictions with limited options to participate in the cryptocurrency industry now have a swift and secure option.

TWT price outlook

Trust Wallet’s native token remained somewhat muted in the past 24 hours.

The alt is trading at $1.08 after a slight 0.09% uptick on the daily price chart.

TWT has consolidated over the past week after losing nearly 15% in the last 30 days, influenced by broader selling pressure.

Meanwhile, TWT has underperformed the broader market today.

CoinMarketCap data shows the value of all cryptocurrencies increased by more than 3% the last 24 hours to $3.12 trillion.

Bitcoin is trading at $91,480, pumping the altcoin space as risk-on sentiments surfaced.

For now, Bitcoin should reclaim the key zone between $93,000 and $94,000 to shift its near-term trajectory to bullish.

That can support steady upswings towards the $100,000 psychological market.

However, a sudden selling wave will see it retracing to the ‘new’ liquidity region at $85,000 – $86,000.

The post Trust Wallet integrates Apple Pay to streamline cryptocurrency purchases appeared first on CoinJournal.

Nearly two weeks after the record-long government shutdown ended, some Defense Department civilian employees say they have yet to receive the back pay they are owed. 

The federal government reopened on Nov. 13 after President Donald Trump signed a bill to fund the government through Jan. 30, ending the 43-day shutdown and allowing tens of thousands of DoD civilians to return to work.

At the time, the Office of Personnel Management said that checks for DoD civilians were slated to go out on Nov. 16. DoD civilians, however, were told to expect payment sometime between Nov. 17 and Nov. 20. 

But with Thanksgiving week now underway, many workers say they are still waiting for as much as four weeks of back pay.

One civilian employee at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, who was furloughed during the shutdown, told Federal News Network that more than 150 people in their unit of more than 400 civilians have not been paid.

“When everybody got back to work, we were told that the next week — or mid-week — we would get paid. And a lot of people did get paid, but a lot of us have not. They keep saying, ‘It’s going to take a few days,’” he said Wednesday. 

The Air Force employee said there has been no official guidance or clear communication, but their supervisor told them Wednesday to expect back pay on Nov. 29.

“There’s nothing in writing,” the employee said. “It’s all the leadership just walking around telling us, ‘Expect to get paid.’ There’s no email traffic — it’s just their own interpretation of when they think we’re going to get paid. But there’s been nothing official sent out.”

A DoD spokesperson told Federal News Network that all civilians whose updated time and attendance have been received have been paid.

“It is essential that civilian employees review their time and attendance reports, and their Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) for accuracy. Civilians with questions or civilian pay issues should contact their local Agency Customer Service Representative (CSR) or immediate supervisor. [The Defense Finance and Accounting Service] will continue to work with the military components to resolve any remaining payment issues,” the spokesperson said.

Another Air Force civilian in San Antonio, who worked through the shutdown, said many civilians in their unit of police officers are still waiting for back pay. 

“Nobody in leadership has put out any message other than when I inquired with my person who handles the payroll. She just said we should be getting paid on the 23rd or 24th, but that didn’t happen. Now, we are going into past Thanksgiving, who knows when it’s going to be,” the Air Force civilian told Federal News Network on Wednesday. 

He said he has been trying for weeks to get answers for himself and the employees he supervises. When he asked his own supervisor for help, he was told to consider filing a congressional complaint.

“That’s just laughable to me because we have a GS-13, we have a commander and active-duty commander. There’s a whole bunch of people between me and my congressman that could probably provide answers. But going to your supervisor hasn’t worked,” the Air Force employee said.

“I don’t understand why they can’t just put out a simple explanation, because communication really helps, whether it’s good or bad, but at least they could explain why or what the problem is, but they haven’t. It’s frustrating,” he added.

The bill that Congress passed to reopen the government reaffirmed that both furloughed and excepted federal employees would receive back pay. The Office of Personnel Management official guidance stated the agency “is committed to ensuring that retroactive pay is provided as soon as possible,” and that the retroactive pay for excepted employees “must be provided at the earliest date possible after the lapse ends.”

A defense official told Federal News Network last week that “DFAS is running continuous pay cycles to expeditiously pay civilians a one-time retroactive lump sum payment for pay periods missed during the government shutdown. Civilians and service members who have questions regarding their pay may contact their local finance office or chain of command.” 

The Department of the Air Force did not respond to questions about how many Air Force civilian employees are impacted, the cause of the delay or when civilians should expect back pay.

With pay stalled for weeks, many federal workers were forced to dip into savings, rely on credit cards, seek out no-interest loans or take on part-time work to make ends meet. Military families have been turning up at food banks in greater numbers — the Armed Services YMCA, for example, reported a 30% to 75% spike in demand at its food pantries near military installations since the shutdown began. 

“I’ve joked with my family and my kids that if I don’t get back pay, we might have to push Christmas til maybe January, but the impending loom of another shutdown at the end of January, it can’t get worse,” the Air Force employee from Laughlin Air Force Base said.

Defense Department civilians aren’t the only ones still waiting for their back pay. 

“Smithsonian still has not managed to get us paid. They are wasting time making sure everyone has the correct time codes rather than getting people paid. It’s more important to them that they take a couple weeks to record we were furloughed. Can’t pay the mortgage, but at least they’ll have the correct time code,” a federal employee told Federal News Network on Nov. 22.

At the Federal Aviation Administration, one air traffic control employee reported receiving only partial back pay through the end of November. 

Meanwhile, federal workers who have received back pay told Federal News Network they cannot verify whether the pay was accurate as they have not received an accompanying Leave and Earnings Statement.

“Not sure if it is accurate, as no LES are being created for the back pay,” one federal employee said.

“Without a LES, I have no idea. I just hope it’s right. It feels like it might be right, but I don’t know,” another employee told Federal News Network. 

Others reported major errors — an employee who received their back pay said it was “taxed so incorrectly that my first paycheck after returning was missing about $500 and only one of two missed health insurance payments were taken out.”

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

The post Some DoD civilians are still waiting for back pay weeks after shutdown’s end first appeared on Federal News Network.

© AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

D.C. National Guard members and their families lined up for free Thanksgiving meals at the D.C. Armory last week during an annual event hosted by Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that supports the military community. 

As part of their Holiday Meals for Military program, the organization provided families with all the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner — stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and more. Operation Homefront also distributed Harris Teeter gift cards so families could purchase their protein of choice, whether it’s turkey, ham or chicken. In total, the organization distributed 400 meal kits and grocery gift cards to pre-registered service members and military families. 

With grocery prices rising and many service members still feeling the financial strain of the recent shutdown, the organization says demand for assistance has surged — food requests alone are up 57% this year.

“Our case work is up — quadruple — what it was 30 days ago. Undoubtedly, the economic times are difficult for everyone in our country, I think that’s greater with the military,” Vivian Dietrich, Operation Homefront senior director, told Federal News Network. 

Operation Homefront, founded in 2002, serves military families nationwide by providing financial, emotional and social support through programs designed to keep households “strong, stable and secure,” Dietrich said. Financial assistance, however, is the backbone of the organization’s work, helping lower-ranking service members cover urgent expenses such as car repairs, rent and utility bills before these short-term problems spiral into long-term financial crises.

Through its Critical Financial Assistance program, Operation Homefront offers grants — not loans — and pays vendors on behalf of families. Caseworkers also review a family’s full financial situation to ensure they address the root of the problem.

“When we do our case work, often it’s somebody calling at the nth hour because the military is very proud. And generally, when they call, you’re at the point that you’re desperate, you need support, and our case workers are highly trained social workers. They spend time studying their finances. We work with them on how to manage their money and help them move forward,” Dietrich said. 

But food remains the organization’s top request for assistance, Dietrich said. 

Surveys conducted by organizations like Blue Star Families consistently find that food insecurity among active-duty families remains higher than the national average.

A number of factors contribute to military families’ financial vulnerability. Service members move dozens of times throughout their career, making it difficult for their spouses to find and maintain employment. Despite years of advocacy and policy efforts, the unemployment rate for active-duty military spouses has held stubbornly at around 22% for quite some time.  

Service members also face significant upfront costs when moving to a new base — military families spend an average of about $8,000 out of pocket during each move, which causes them to dip into their savings or accrue credit card debt.

During the recent government shutdown, military families were turning up at food banks in greater numbers — the Armed Services YMCA, for example, reported a 30% to 75% spike in demand at its food pantries near military installations. 

“Number one request for us is food — that has quadrupled right out of the top. But generally, it’s food, rent, maybe car payments, utilities — the day-to-day expenses that we all have. But it isn’t uncommon that there was some type of crisis that occurred that caused them to fall behind. A car would break down, or someone is sick and they had to miss work and they didn’t have pay. Or in the military, you can be deployed. You can be out on a training mission. And then if you have children, where’s the childcare?” Dietrich said.

“In general, it’s the basic expenses that we all live with, and if you don’t catch it at the very beginning, it really does become a crisis, and a crisis that can last for years. And our goal is to stay focused, get them strong, secure and stable,” she added.

Operation Homefront provides holiday meals for military families throughout the year, not just at Thanksgiving. 

The post Operation Homefront distributes holiday meals to Guard members as food requests surge first appeared on Federal News Network.

© U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Angelina Tran

Two lawmakers want to fully exempt military compensation from federal income tax — a move that would deliver a significant pay boost for service members and mark one of the most sweeping tax changes for the military community.

The legislation, dubbed the Service Members Tax Relief Act, seeks to eliminate federal income tax on all active-duty and reserve pay, including enlistment, retention and education bonuses and all special and incentive pays.

The measure would go well beyond previous tax-exemption proposals, which largely focus on bonuses or specialty pays.

In May, for example, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the BONUS act, which would amend a section of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to explicitly exempt all military bonuses from federal income tax.

“The bill builds on existing tax exclusions for certain military benefits and responds to long-standing concerns raised by troops, families and advocates who believe those who serve should not be taxed on the bonuses they earn in service to our country,” Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), the sponsor of the BONUS act, said at the time.

Similarly, the No Tax on Bonuses Act, introduced in April, seeks to exclude service members’ enlistment and reenlistment bonuses from gross income.

Currently, service members deployed to combat zones receive tax-free income. In addition, most allowances that make up a significant portion of a service member’s total compensation, including basic allowance for housing and basic allowance for subsistence are tax-exempt.  Veterans’ disability compensation is also exempt from federal income taxes. Together, these exemptions amount to roughly $30 billion a year in foregone federal income tax revenue each year. 

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who introduced the Service Members Tax Relief act this week, are also sponsoring the Tax Cuts for Veterans Act of 2025, a measure that would amend Section 122 of the Internal Revenue Code to exclude all military retirement pay and veterans’ benefits from federal income taxes. This includes all retired and retainer pay under Titles 10 and 14, as well as all VA monthly benefits, including disability compensation and survivor payments covered under Titles 37 and 38. 

The two measures stand apart from prior proposals, as no recent bill has attempted a tax exemption of this scope.

“It is pretty sweeping… and it’s potentially a very expensive proposal. Now, there’s a reason why Congress has, on a bipartisan basis, provided these existing tax exclusions for military and veterans benefits — there’s a wide bipartisan appreciation for the fact that if you served our country, put your life and put your body on the line — you’re receiving benefits that you deserve for that service…I think any proposal that costs tens of billions of dollars per year, Congress is going to scrutinize,” Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told Federal News Network.

It is unclear what strategy the sponsors plan to pursue — standalone bills often face political hurdles, and lawmakers frequently try to attach such proposals to larger legislative packages like the annual National Defense Authorization Act to increase their chances. 

“These bills are fiscally conservative in that they offer relief through the tax code instead of new spending. It is a win-win; the exemption instantly improves take-home pay, while helping with recruitment and retention, which in turn keeps our war fighters strong,” Hamadeh said.

Lautz pushed back on the idea that the bills are “fiscally conservative,” arguing that a dollar of a tax cut that isn’t offset adds to the deficit just as much as a dollar of new spending that isn’t paid for.

“If you’ve got $100 billion spending program or the $100 billion tax cut, and you’re not paying for that — that is not fiscally responsible. Now, Republican lawmakers have shown a preference for cutting taxes over increasing government spending, and Democrats vice versa, that is an unmistakable trend. But in terms of the fiscally responsible approach here, I think the message we’ve sent to both parties is that if you’re going to have a large tax cut or you’re going to have a large spending increase, you should pay for it with offsetting either spending cuts or tax increases,” Lautz said.

While the proposal would eliminate federal income taxes on military pay, active-duty and reserve personnel would still be paying payroll taxes on their income.

The post New bill seeks to exempt military pay from federal income tax first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Interview transcript

Eric White We’re talking about the new [Online Retirement Application (ORA)] system, or I guess, is it “Or-uh” system? I’ll let you … Correct my pronunciation for federal retirees. Obviously, that system is going to get used a lot over the next coming months, if what has been happening recently is any sign of what’s to come. Tell me about what’s going on with this system and what feds are saying — of the ones that have been using it — about it.

Thiago Glieger Yeah, Eric, this new system — so we call it O-R-A; I think that’s how most people are calling it, as you said — this is a brand new system. And honestly, it’s been confusing a lot of people … it’s replacing the old paperwork that a lot federal employees had to fill out — really the SF-3107 — as they were going to retire from their agencies. But I think the big problem here, Eric, is they’re finding that a lot of the HR departments are just simply overwhelmed … We had a lot of people [who] were leaving, we have bottlenecking of a lot people that are leaving on [the] [deferred resignation program (DRP)] as well, and so they just can’t provide the kind of support that they used to before. So a lot of these questions start to pile up. It’s a brand new system and there’s not enough people in place to help answer those questions. Retirement is already a pretty stressful process for people, right? So then on top of that, not having a clear process or information about a new system only adds to the anxiety … When it was first launched everyone hoped that OPM was going to say, this is going to be faster, it’s going to be smoother, it’s going to require less people. And OPM actually said the opposite. They said, at first, it might actually take longer … They are very hopeful that over time this is gonna be a good system but right now there [are] a lot of moving parts that have to come together for all of that efficiency to really start showing up. And as you guys have seen, Eric, there’s tens of thousands of federal employees retiring. We just had the first wave here on 9/30. We’re gonna have another wave here 12/31. And so it’s really, really tough for people to get answers to the system.

Eric White Yeah, sort of a “ready, fire, aim” approach that we love here in the USA. Walk us through what a federal employee should expect when they decide to retire under this new system. What are some of the major changes from the old system? Not that anybody retires more than once, hopefully, but you know, what exactly are they looking at from a landscape perspective?

Thiago Glieger Yeah, so what it used to be is that a lot of agencies would run the [Government Retirement and Benefits (GRB)] platform retirement estimator for federal employees retiring. And the GRB platform was effectively a repository of your federal service, and it would give you information on what retirement could look like, estimates of your pension, things like that. So then we run into problem number one: a lot agencies cut GRB. So now federal employees are saying, well, what does my retirement estimate look like? How many credible years do I have? That system is no longer there. So then agencies are not even able to provide that information. But presuming you’re still gonna move forward with the actual retirement process, [the] first step is you have to notify your HR office that you’re ready to retire. You can send them an email, generally, and say, I believe I’m eligible; I’d like to start the retirement process. And this is because the HR group has to initiate the ORA system in most cases. Every agency has a little bit of a different process, but this is what the majority of the groups are doing … You have to remember what’s different here is now HR is swamped. There’s tons of people retiring. There’s less of them around to be able to do this, which is causing some of the bottleneck. Once HR begins the ORA process, you’re given access to it. And again, this is gonna replace the SF-3107, which is the retirement form. And so now it’s actually easier because instead of filling out a government form, you’re just going through a system online and it’s asking you questions one by one. Everyone has filled out those kinds of forms before. So it’s actually pretty easy, as we’ve seen with some of our clients. And what it does is it takes your answers and pre-fills the form for you, which is a nice service. Once you submit that part, it’s really important that a federal employee stay alert because a lot of times, HR — they may kick it back if they need additional information — there’s something that’s missing, so you have to check to make sure you don’t need to do additional work on the ORA system for that. That’s when it moves to payroll. Once it moves to payroll, they finalize all of your hours, which can take a month to a month and a half just at payroll itself, before it goes to OPM. So if you think about it, we’re talking a month at payroll, [that] could be a month before HR actually gets around to being able to initiate the system for you. We’re At 2 months so far. Once it hits OPM, that’s when the official clock starts, as OPM likes to describe it. And there’s some uncharted waters here because OPM has not really handled, A, this new system before, and B, this many federal employees retiring all at the same time. So they release information — there is some congressional report that gets put out there that talks about how many applications are coming into the system and what is the average processing time month over month. We’ve been seeing that go up and up and up over the last three months. I expect it’s going to continue to get worse, right? So we’re talking three months at the agency level plus … whatever time OPM is going to need for themselves.

Eric White We’re talking with financial planner Thiago Glieger. So, other than those long timelines — well, we can call them unknown timelines, as you say — what are some of the other issues that federal employees are seeing so far with the system? It sounds like it is going through some growing pains, but are there any fundamental flaws with it that people are just not liking?

Thiago Glieger I think some of the challenging questions that the system asks them are things like, how much withholding do you want to do on your taxes? Or, what do you wanna do about life insurance? And before there was some guidance in the forms [about] how to be thinking about some of these things. The system is a little bit more streamlined and it just asks you the question. Well, if you haven’t gone through the process of creating a financial plan, how do you know how much insurance do you need? What kind of tax liability are you expected to have? So federal retirees are called upon to make these decisions in real time as they’re filling out the form and they don’t really have the information to be able to answer those questions. Okay, the other issue that we are running into, and this one hasn’t been too much, is that sometimes people don’t get the notification of additional action that they need. Sometimes it gets stuck in their spam email. So this is something that, again, it’s those bumps that they’re trying to pull together. There are a lot of systems in the background that have to coordinate with each other and, as any brand new system that gets launched, there’s always stuff that’s going to break. So I’m sure some of that’s gonna be a problem too.

Eric White Gotcha. All right. And so what can folks do if they are looking to retire? You’re a financial planner. I guess we’re talking to the right person. How can they financially prepare for any delays that might occur because … some of those dates don’t line up and you don’t want to be caught in-between paychecks, as they say, and without anything coming in? What sort of precautions can those looking to retire take?

Thiago Glieger Yeah, that’s a really good point, Eric. I think the first thing that federal retirees should remember is that you will get your annual leave lump sum. Okay, so that comes pretty quickly in our experience with clients, right after you leave. So you get your final paycheck and then shortly thereafter you get your lump sum, so depending on how many hours you have, you’re gonna get a big check that’s gonna help you to meet your expenses between when you leave and no longer have an income and when the pension actually fully starts. There [is] also, in most cases, an interim payment, where it’s a portion of your final pension; not the exact amount. But again, we don’t wanna count on that because there’s cases where people don’t get it. So the biggest thing is that, let’s say you’re planning to retire December 31st, now is the time to start boosting your cash reserves. So what do I mean by that? Cash in the bank is gonna be really important here. So … This might mean, and it sounds a little counterintuitive, but might mean maybe don’t put as much in the Thrift Savings Plan for the rest of the year, if you know you’re gonna retire, okay? Yes, you have access to the TSP if you are retiring within a certain age, the age is 55 for most people, but cash in the bank is that much easier to access … it’s already been taxed in most cases. So if you reduce your TSP contribution, that means your take-home pay goes up and you get to start accumulating that cash. I would also think about what kind of expenses maybe you have coming up, right? The general guide for people is we like around six months-worth of your monthly expenses in cash in the bank at all times. And because we might be looking at delays on your pension starting, you might wanna increase that a little bit more. So if you’ve got big renovations you were planning to do on the home, maybe postpone that for a little but until you get greater clarity around OPM’s timeline for the stuff. And the last one — and this one’s a little bit controversial as well, but it depends on how old you are — if you leave prior to the age of 55, which a lot of people have done this year, you technically don’t have access to the TSP funds un-penalized, unless you are law enforcement or special provisions, 1811s, things like that. So what you can look at is a potential TSP loan. You can get up to $50,000 and that comes without that 10% early withdrawal penalty, which is kind of nice because you can put that in your bank account, use it or don’t use it, but at least it creates extra cashflow for you. Of course, check with your financial professionals, make sure that this is something that is feasible within your plan, but that’s been a really solid one to help bridge people over.

Eric White Uncertainty is the word of the day for a lot of federal employees, particularly those that are retiring, even so. Any advice on handling that aspect of things? You’re already going through the anguish of entering into a new stage of your life, having all of this in the background of shutdowns and potential furloughs and things of that nature. What can you tell people that are going through this right now?

Thiago Glieger I would say for folks to rely on your planning. This is something that creates great peace of mind, just knowing what you’re gonna do in which scenario. So if this happens, if it takes longer, if the markets crash in the middle of your waiting for your pension, all of these things, if you can think ahead of what those potential problems may be and what you are gonna do if those things happen or what you gonna do in preparation to hedge some of those risks, that gives you great peace mind. We have to be careful about watching the economy and the news around the markets. The markets are very volatile and you always have different opinions and people talking about what the markets are gonna do next. We have to careful cause that creates a lot of anxiety for retirement. And I think too, the more information you have, the better. OPM has a really, really helpful retirement quick guide, which we can give you guys the link [to] … You can put it in the show notes. The OPM retirement quick guide is super helpful, [it] walks you through the process so you know what to expect. And in fact, there is one additional resource that is actually your benefits officer directory. This is something that OPM maintains pretty regularly and it’s the HR person in charge at your office. In case the process is just stuck and if you can’t get answers, you can get anywhere, this is a place you can look for to find out who’s in charge of your agency to get the answers you need.

The post When paychecks stop and tax season looms, what moves should federal employees make? first appeared on Federal News Network.

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The longest partial shutdown in U.S. history has officially ended after President Donald Trump signed a bill last week to fund most of the government through Jan. 30 and give other agencies full-year funding. Federal agencies are starting to reopen, but many federal workers — who haven’t been paid in over a month — are still waiting for their back pay. It is also unclear how quickly operations will return to normal or what the long-term impacts will be on missions and agency readiness. And another partial shutdown threat is already looming.

If you are dealing with challenges related to this shutdown — financial, personal or work-related — we want to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey. All answers will be kept anonymous. The survey results will be used for an upcoming story.

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If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

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Interview transcript:

Terry Gerton: You’ve seen many shutdowns in your long career. Here we are a couple of days into restart. Let’s start with some of the impacts on people as agencies get up and running. Some people got maybe their first back paychecks over the weekend. Others will be seeing them promised early this week, but they’re not going to be complete. What should agencies and people be thinking about as we go through the logistics of making folks whole in back pay?

Bill Hoagland: Well, I think it’s important for the HR departments of the various agencies, they’re going to have a lot of work on their hands to make sure that they get the pay back, get everybody back up to where they were. And as you say, Terry, I think hopefully most of them had received the pay that they were due over the weekend because the law that was adopted said as quickly and as soon as this has become law, you’re to get the back pay. So all I can say is that the HR departments will be working very hard to make sure that happens. And then, of course, they’re going to be faced with the next payday. So there’s going to be a lot of work for the HR departments here. And when they come back, get fully staffed too.

Terry Gerton: And it’s really kind of complicated to compute that back pay, so folks who were affected need to make sure that they’re checking their own paychecks, right?

Bill Hoagland: Absolutely. I think that’s a very important point, Terry. I think that absolutely they need to check to make sure that because there could be some glitches in this, given the way this has to go fast. HR departments are supposed to move fast to get the payback. So you’re right, there could be some mistakes and so the federal worker needs to make sure and check what their previous paychecks were against what they’re getting to make sure they are getting what they have been promised.

Terry Gerton: When you talk about workload for the HR teams, many of them are much smaller than they were because a lot of HR folks have been downsized or took the DRP, but there’s a piece in this law that’s really important. It says reverse the RIFs that happened during shutdown. How is that going to play out?

Bill Hoagland: Well, since we’ve never had this happen before in a shutdown, this is going to be new. And therefore, again, we’re going to have some new complications here for the HR departments to figure this out. My hope is that it’s a simple flipping of the switch, so to speak. I hope that the HR department, they know who they RIFed. They simply have to turn that off and, of course, notify the people that they are still fully employed.

Terry Gerton: And one more thing in the HR space is the processing of a retirement backlog. Sept. 30, the day before the shutdown, was the deadline for the deferred resignation program. HR teams could come back to find stacks of retirement processing on their desks.

Bill Hoagland: Absolutely, as you’ve outlined it here and we discussed, there is going to be a lot of activity for the HR departments and how they prioritize what to address first. I think they will have to address quickly the pay issue. They will have quickly address the RIFs issue. And then I would assume that in terms of the retirement programs and people that have put in for retirement or were going to retire. That may take a backseat a little bit to those other priorities the HR department will be facing during that period of time.

Terry Gerton: Well, I started with people because they are the foundation of everything that’s going to happen in the federal government. But now put yourself in the position of one of the department or agency leaders. You’ve just got your organization started back up. What are your operational priorities? What do you think about getting back up to speed first?

Bill Hoagland: Well, I think if I was running an agency, first of all, it would depend upon the agency. Let’s be clear. Some of the agencies, such as Department of Agriculture, the Military Construction Accounts, those are full-year funded now. They will be basically going back to their full-year plans in terms of implementation. It’s for those other agencies, those other nine appropriation bills that are just operational now until the end of January, they’re going to have to look very carefully. They have received, as I understand on the day before the shutdown, there was a memorandum that was put out by Russ Vought at OMB that laid out the appropriation apportionment process. And so those agencies are going to look very carefully at that directive, that OMB memo, in terms of the implementation of their accounts and moving forward. But in terms of agency priorities, I think the first most important thing again is to make sure that those individuals that had been RIFed are put back onto the payroll quickly and working with individual programs. The problem here is for the agencies that are only receiving a continuing resolution to the end of January is planning. If they had planned new programs, new activities, technically, they’re on hold again. And so they’ll have to go back to, just as the term implies, just a continuation of their activities that were in place at the end of the last fiscal year.

Terry Gerton: I’m speaking with Bill Hoagland. He’s a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Well, Bill, speaking of continuing, what about the impact on contracts and contractors? I mean, there was so much disruption leading up to the end of the fiscal year, and then they went into a shutdown. If you’re still under a CR, how do you get your contracts and contractors back up and running?

Bill Hoagland: Terry, that’s a question I probably had better avoid trying to answer exactly because I think there’s some legal questions here. Technically, first of all, the contractors, many of them did not get paid, and the question whether they will get paid. They’re not federal workers, they’re on contract. And so I think as you’ve outlined it here, there’s going to be some issues associated without those contractors. Reestablish their relationship with the agency, the agency heads, do they have to enter into new contracts? That would be terrible. I would assume that a continuing resolution would allow those contractors. I hope the contracts were written in such a way that they automatically come back into play. But again, that will depend upon the way the contracts were entered into prior to the shutdown.

Terry Gerton: Does a continuing resolution provide that agencies can make penalty payments if they’re overdue in settling some of these invoices?

Bill Hoagland: I think the answer there again, Terry, is dependent upon the way the contracts were written at the time that the agency entered into it. I think it will depend. That’s the best answer I could give to that question.

Terry Gerton: Thank you. Well, we’ve been talking here about federal agencies, but Congress has got to get back to work, too. The House, at least, has been away for a while. What’s the backlog looking like as Congress tries to get itself restarted?

Bill Hoagland: Well, this is going to be a difficult period between now and through the end of January with the holiday season coming up, a Thanksgiving recess, the traditional recesses around the first of the year with the holiday season there. There’s not a lot of time. Congress does have, at least the Appropriation Committee chairwomen in the Senate, plan very strongly to try to get as many of the regular appropriation bills done as possible. And so we can expect another packaging of some of the many appropriation packages in terms of putting maybe Defense and Health and Human Services into one package and try to get that through. I do know that the hope is next week that the Senate does want to put a package together that includes Defense, Homeland Security, I think, as well as Health and Human Services. So those are big bills and so the pressure will be mounting here. But to your point, it’s not a lot of time here. And the bigger the bill, the more controversy the bill.

Terry Gerton: The more ornaments on that Christmas tree.

Bill Hoagland: That’s true. And so as a consequence, I’m gloom and doom are a little bit on this. I’m sorry to it. I don’t want to just coming off this the longest shutdown in our history. There’s a real chance a real probability that we’ll have another have to have another continuing resolution come the end of January, simply because of the backlog. And of course, there are other things defense reauthorization bill is up, trying to get that done. So Congress has got, because of the first of all, because the House has been out, we also have the Jeffrey Epstein issue coming up, which is going to cause some problems in terms of delays further. It’s going to be a full agenda between now and the end of January, which, as I say, has, unfortunately, likely a probability of another continuing resolution.

Terry Gerton: Bill, you’ve given us a hard reality pill there, but if you could make some recommendations about reforms that might help us avoid shutdowns in the future or maybe get appropriations out on time, what would you say is at the top of that list?

Bill Hoagland: Well, as a former Senate Budget Committee staff director for many years, the first thing is just to pass a budget and pass it on time. As you know, we really didn’t get a budget from the president for the fiscal year that we’re in. We had a mini kind of budget around for the Appropriation Committee, but we never got a budget. And so Congress has not adopted a budget. In fact, over the 50-year history of the Budget Act, I think about 13 or 14 times, we’ve not got budget resolutions put in place in time. So the first thing is, just basics, is get a budget put together and meet that time frame early. If you’re following the schedule, you would have your budget put in place by April the 15th, tax filing day, before the beginning of the upcoming fiscal year. That would give time for the appropriators to move and get their individual appropriation bills done. So that’s just basic. No. 2, while you’re not always going to make it. Even with a budget resolution on time, as we know. And therefore, I would also argue that maybe an automatic continuing resolution, something that I’ve argued for many years. Nobody wins in shutdowns, I’m sorry. It’s not Republican, it’s not Democrat, not the president, the American public lose. And so my argument would be, have an automatic CR. Don’t go through the shutdown aspect, but just automatically continuation of appropriations and if you want to put pressure on maybe you, after so many days on that continuing resolution, automatic continuing resolution, knock down the appropriations by a percentage point or two to keep the pressure on them to get it done. And then finally longer term, I’m a strong believer in biannual budgeting as opposed to annual budgeting, which would be another approach, would you end up after two years also end up with, maybe, but at least you’d have more time to work out your budget and your appropriations over a two-year period.

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IRS employees are getting mixed signals on when they should expect to receive their back pay, now that the longest government shutdown is over.

About 34,000 previously furloughed IRS employees were told earlier Friday that they would have to wait until early December to receive all of the back pay they are owed. But they’re now being told that they will receive the “majority of their back pay” by Nov. 19, which is the latest that federal employees will receive back pay.

“After ongoing conversations with the National Finance Center, the IRS now anticipates the majority of back pay will be paid on 11/19/2025,” the IRS told employees in an email obtained by Federal News Network.

In an earlier memo, IRS employees were told they would receive back pay covering two full pay periods on Nov. 24, and would receive back pay for a partial pay period on Dec. 8. That’s a later timeline than what the Trump administration provided earlier this week. The IRS, however, says these internal communications are no longer accurate.

Nearly all other federal employees will receive their back pay no later than Nov. 19. A senior administration official told Federal News Network on Thursday that all employees at the Treasury Department, as well as several other agencies, would receive their back pay on Nov. 19.

Employees at some agencies will receive their back pay as soon as this weekend, while others will get their back pay next week.

Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, told reporters in a call Friday that the IRS “was able to get people paid much faster” after the January 2019 shutdown, which lasted for 35 days, and called the delayed timeline “entirely unacceptable.”

“To find out that there isn’t an urgency to get these employees paid is really just outrageous,” Greenwald said.

“They’re showing up to work, but they’re still not getting paid. And they are still waiting a long time to see when they’re going to get paid,” she added.

The IRS told Federal News Network, following NTEU’s call with reporters, that it had tested its systems, and expects that all employees will receive their full back pay by Nov. 24.

The IRS isn’t the only agency updating its back pay schedule. According to Greenwald, the Interior Department told its employees that they will receive 50% of their back pay on Nov. 17 and the rest on Nov. 25.

A senior administration official previously told Federal News Network that Interior Department employees would receive a “supercheck” on Nov. 17 that would cover all days between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1. Federal News Network has reached out to the Interior Department for comment.

“We’re really asking the federal government to live up to the November 19th deadline and really respect employees and the urgency of their needs and to get this pay issued as soon as possible, but no later than Nov. 19,” Greenwald said.

The Office of Personnel Management, in its latest guidance, said it “is committed to ensuring that retroactive pay is provided as soon as possible.”

The spending deal passed by Congress on Wednesday evening ensures back pay for furloughed and excepted federal employees.

A 2019 law previously called for retroactive compensation for all federal employees impacted by a shutdown. But during the shutdown, White House’s Office of Management and Budget floated the idea that back pay wasn’t guaranteed for furloughed employees.

Mike Radock, the acting director of the IRS Office of Human Resources Operations, told staff in an email obtained by Federal News Network that the agency’s payroll and employee services divisions “are working collaboratively to ensure employees receive pay and backpay.”

“Periods like this can bring challenges and uncertainty, and I want to thank you for staying connected and supporting one another. The work you do is essential, and I’m eager to move forward together as we resume normal operations,” Radock wrote.

Greenwald said the back pay schedule puts a strain on furloughed IRS employees, who missed two full paychecks and received one partial paycheck. Meanwhile, IRS staff are dealing with a significant backlog of work that has piled up during the 43-day shutdown.

“They’re coming back to their workplaces with inventory that has backed up, with messages on their phones, with emails they couldn’t answer, all the things that they weren’t allowed to do during a furlough. So they’re already set behind because the work has piled up during this time,” she said. “Let’s respect them enough to get them their back pay, so they can start to get their lives back on track and get moving forward.”

The post After mixed messages on back pay, IRS says staff will get ‘majority’ by Nov. 19 first appeared on Federal News Network.

© Getty Images/iStockphoto/marcnorman

Following the longest shutdown in U.S. history, the federal workforce is now trying to get back to at least some sense of normalcy.

While federal employees who have been furloughed for the last 43 days return to work Thursday, the Office of Personnel Management is setting expectations for agencies as they begin to update pay, leave and benefits for those impacted by the lapse in appropriations.

In new guidance, OPM said it is “is committed to ensuring that retroactive pay is provided as soon as possible.” Compensation will be provided for both furloughed and excepted federal employees, as the spending agreement that was enacted Wednesday evening reaffirmed. A 2019 law previously called for retroactive compensation for all federal employees impacted by a shutdown.

A senior Trump administration official said the White House “has urged agencies to get employee paychecks out expeditiously and accurately to not leave anyone waiting longer than necessary.”

But the timing of employees receiving their back pay varies, depending on what payroll provider an agency uses, and the different pay schedules across the federal workforce.

Sending out retroactive payments to employees involves working across agency HR offices, federal payroll providers and shared service centers. Agency HR offices, for instance, have to submit timecards for federal employees, which are then processed by the government’s various payroll providers.

According to the senior administration official, employees from the General Services Administration and OPM will be among the first to receive their retroactive paychecks, with an expected deposit date set for Saturday.

Employees at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Energy, and Health and Human Services, as well as civilian employees from the Defense Department, will receive their deposits shortly after that — this Sunday.

On Monday, affected employees from the departments of Education, State, Interior and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Social Security Administration and NASA, are all expected to receive their back pay.

Then on Wednesday, employees from the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Treasury, Labor and Justice, along with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Small Business Administration, are projected to get their paychecks. The timing of the retroactive payments for feds was first reported by Semafor.

The National Finance Center, a payroll provider housed under the Agriculture Department, confirmed that employees at agencies using NFC’s services should expect a payroll deposit by the middle of next week.

“In order to provide backpay for employees as quickly as possible, the National Finance Center will be expediting pay processing for pay period 22 and backpay for pay periods 19 (October 1-4), 20 (October 5-18), and 21 (October 19-November 1),” USDA wrote in an all-staff email Wednesday evening, obtained by Federal News Network.

Federal News Network has reached out to several other federal payroll providers requesting details on the timeline for processing retroactive payments.

The National Treasury Employees Union urged immediate back pay for all federal employees who have been going without compensation for the last six weeks.

“This is an emergency for federal employees across the country, and they should not have to wait another minute longer for the paychecks they lost during the longest government shutdown in history,” NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald said. “We call on all federal agencies to process the back pay immediately.”

In its new guidance, OPM also noted that to make payments as quickly as possible, payroll providers may need to “make some adjustments.” That could mean, for instance, that the initial retroactive payments employees receive might not reflect the exact calculations of their pay and leave hours.

“Payroll providers will work with agencies to make any necessary adjustments as soon as practicable,” OPM said.

Who receives back pay, and how much?

Furloughed employees will receive their “standard rate of pay” for the hours they would have worked if the government shutdown hadn’t occurred, OPM said in its guidance Wednesday evening.

But there are some exceptions to that. If a furloughed employee, for example, had been scheduled for overtime hours that would have occurred during the shutdown, OPM said they should be paid their premium rate for those hours.

Additionally, OPM said that allowances, differentials and other types of payments, like administratively uncontrollable overtime pay or law enforcement availability pay, should be paid as if the furloughed employee continued to work.

Although most employees impacted by the shutdown are ensured back pay, there are some smaller exceptions carved out where employees may not receive retroactive pay, OPM added.

If a furloughed employee was in a non-pay status before the shutdown began, for instance, then they are not entitled to receive back pay.

Excepted employees who were considered “absent without leave” (AWOL) — or in other words, took unapproved time off — will also not receive back pay for that time.

Guidance on leave, post-shutdown

Although excepted employees are not required to use paid leave for taking time off during the shutdown — and can instead enter a “furlough” period — there may still have been some instances where excepted employees took leave during the funding lapse, OPM wrote in its guidance.

In those cases, excepted employees who were approved to take paid leave during the shutdown will be charged for the hours from their leave bank, OPM said.

Agencies are also expected to begin adjusting leave accrual for furloughed employees. Now that the shutdown is over, furloughed employees should be placed in a “pay status” for the time they would have otherwise spent working during the funding lapse. That means accrual of annual and sick leave will be retroactively adjusted as if the employees were in a pay status, OPM said.

Excepted employees continued to accrue leave during the shutdown, which should be reflected in their leave banks, OPM said.

What happens to RIFs of federal employees?

On top of reaffirming back pay, the spending bill that was enacted Wednesday evening also rescinds the roughly 4,000 reductions in force that have occurred since Oct. 1. Federal employees will be temporarily protected from additional RIFs, at least until the end of January.

Agencies have five days to inform federal employees who received RIF notices in October that those actions are rescinded.

“Agencies should issue those notices and confirm to OPM the rescissions have been issued,” OPM’s guidance states.

At least 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and 730,000 employees have been working without pay during the shutdown. Agencies have been putting plans in the works to return all furloughed federal employees to their duties as of Thursday.

OPM also said agencies “may consider” providing flexibility for employees who might not be able to return to work immediately, such as by approving personal leave or adjusting individual work schedules.

The post Post-shutdown, here’s how soon federal employees can expect back pay first appeared on Federal News Network.

© AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Interview transcript: 

Terry Gerton You and your company, Indeed Flex, have just done a recent survey that showed nearly 40% of furloughed federal workers are seeking flexible jobs within two weeks. What does that tell us about the shutdown and how it’s reshaping financial reality for folks?

Novo Constare I think the reality of the shutdown is that it’s put a lot of people in severe financial hardship, where they’re struggling to pay key bills that matter to them, whether it be rent, energy, you name it. And we surveyed 1,000 adults, and as you mentioned, 40% of people were looking for extra work. However, when we did the survey, it’s been about three weeks now, and as we all know, I think yesterday marked that this is the longest shutdown ever. And at the moment it seems there’s no particular end in sight. And so that 40% may be a lot higher right now as the increasing financial burdens, because the shutdowns are just going to impact more and more people that are being affected.

Terry Gerton You found that many federal workers are turning to freelance platforms, gig apps and remote work, and that some said they plan to stick with it even after the shutdown ends. Do you see this as a long-term shift in mindset?

Novo Constare I think this is a continuous shift that’s been going on for quite some time, with the launch of many gig platforms, whether it be the likes of Uber or DoorDash, people have been migrating to gig work for the last sort of 10 years now, and it increased over COVID. And what we saw when the cost of living crisis kicked off, where inflation reached rampant levels, it impacted a lot of people’s wallets today, and whilst inflation has come down, things are still very, very expensive relative to what people’s wages have been. And so people are finding they’re having to supplement their income by any means necessary. And what flexible work does, what these gig apps do, it allows people to maintain their full-time job, but be able to pick up gigs, pick up work that fits around their work-life schedules to enable to earn more money. And I think for those in government work, they’ve probably historically felt they’re in very stable jobs, not very susceptible to the ups and downs of the global economy. And what this shutdown has shown is that actually things may be changing even for them. I think for many of the people surveyed, they said this shutdown felt different compared to other shutdowns in the past. And as we’ve seen, it’s the longest one on record and breaking that record every single day. And so I think they’re going to get that experience of leveraging flexible work and realizing it’s something that if it provides good pay and stability, that they’ll be looking to continue it on.

Terry Gerton You mentioned Uber and DoorDash as a couple of examples. Were there particular trends that you saw in the survey response about the kinds of flexible work that federal employees are looking for?

Novo Constare One thing that was interesting about the workers surveyed who were impacted by the shutdown, the sectors or the jobs they were looking to do as part of supplementing their income, they were jobs in administrative, clerical, customer service and call center work. So I guess these are jobs that they do for government already and sort of see an opportunity to transfer those skills that they already know into these other areas, versus saying, I will become an Uber driver overnight. So like, if they were looking for flexible work, that sort of suited or matched their current skill set, which is perfectly natural for anyone.

Terry Gerton Were there responses that indicated interest in things like writing or editing or strategic planning, augmentation, those kinds of things as well?

Novo Constare One thing popped up that was very consistent is nearly half of them, actually I think 43% of them were looking for sort of remote and freelance opportunities. So things that allow them to, things like virtual assistants or writing as you just said. So they can do those things from the confines of where they’re currently based and hopefully open themselves up to more opportunities across the entire U.S., versus being locked into wherever’s available to them locally.

Terry Gerton And it seems like that may be an opportunity to kind of build a broader employment network given the uncertainty of federal employment right now.

Novo Constare Exactly, 100%.

Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Novo Constare. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Indeed Flex. So let’s back up for a minute outside of the need to supplement their salaries. Federal employees face some pretty strict legal rules around outside employment. What sort of legal and ethical considerations should they be aware of before they take on a side gig?

Novo Constare So for those workers who pick up other jobs, they will generally not be eligible for unemployment benefits. And so there is a risk, depending on what they do, that the unemployment benefits they will be getting, having been furloughed by the government, they would lose access to. So there’s an element where they’ve got to understand the trade-off of what they potentially could be earning if they go pick up these side gigs, versus what they’re getting from unemployment benefits. So they have to be cautious in their approach and just like, it isn’t as simple as like, I’m picking up an unemployment benefit and I’m also just going to go pick up some seasonal work at the same time.

Terry Gerton That’s a really important consideration. And traditionally, federal jobs have been seen as very stable and very secure. You mentioned that early on. So how does the rise of this interest in side gigs challenge that narrative? What does it mean for agencies who want to retain talent? What does it mean for folks who are thinking about coming into the government? What do you see as the narrative there?

Novo Constare The thing for, so a lot, like 68% said they would return, after they returned to regular positions, they would still consider remaining in flexible and temporary work. However, there was a caveat with that. It would be if it was good pay, sufficient, and it was stable as well. So what we’ve learned in our business is the quickest way to lose a worker is not be able to buy them an opportunity when they need it, which is one of our strategic advantages in our product, is to be able to scale our platform and ensure we recruit enough workers to fulfill the needs of our customer, but not too many workers so that when workers need a job, there’s not enough jobs for them. And so for agencies out there, for ourselves, we’ve got to be constantly monitoring how consistent is the work we have available for workers, so that we retain them because they want to have stable and reliable pay.

Terry Gerton And so if federal workers are thinking about flexible work, what should they be looking for in terms of pay and in scheduling and compatibility with their primary job, assuming they’ve got clearance to engage?

Novo Constare For us, our core values is giving workers ownership, control and choice. And so we’re not the only platform out there, but the great thing about a platform like ours, it gives the workers complete visibility and transparency to the work that is available out there that meets their skills. And I think that’s super important because in some scenarios where you don’t have that visibility, you could be forced to take work that you otherwise wouldn’t take because it feels like there’s no other opportunities. So if you’re making this decision, make sure you’re looking to join an agency or a platform that gives you that ownership over so you can manage your schedule effectively. And look for other opportunities of like, it’s not just the work, it’s who gives you good access to your pay. We’ve got this initiative where we want to make sure people get paid as quickly as possible. So in some scenarios for certain jobs that you complete on our platform, you can get paid instantly, where you can clock in and clock out of your shift and get access to that pay immediately, which is super important. And I think for the government workers who are looking at these gig opportunities, it’s probably even extra important cause there’s no other income coming towards you right now. Having instant access to the money that you’ve earned is super important and it helps stave off utilizing loans and things of that nature.

Terry Gerton You’re obviously deeply engaged in the gig economy and supply and demand for gig workers. Do you see this interest from federal employees as a temporary blip related specifically to this shutdown circumstance, or do you think this is a longer-term structural shift? And what might that mean if it is?

Novo Constare I believe it’s a long-term structural shift. I believe that those who start to pick up some extra gigs through platforms or seasonal work will see how that flexibility can work around their schedule and they’ll utilize an opportunity to continue to supplement their core income from their permanent job, because the technology out there allows it to be more possible today. And then at the same time, I know companies who are struggling to manage budgets in uncertain macroeconomic conditions are looking to employ more flexible scheduling. And therefore their demand for these type of work is also increasing. So there’s a natural synergy there in terms of the flexibility and needs of the workforce and the need to earn extra money, and also the flexibility the employers need to be able to manage the scheduling of their labor.

Terry Gerton So you’re seeing this as a big part of the future labor market.

Novo Constare 100%, yes.

The post Shutdowns are driving federal workers to pick up side hustles first appeared on Federal News Network.

© AP Photo/Richard Vogel

Interview transcript:

Terry Gerton Let’s talk about the current state of shutdown negotiations in the Senate. You’re sitting up there, what are you hearing?

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, we are officially well into the longest shutdown ever. There’s some growing frustration on both sides as we see kind of travel delays, people missing their SNAP benefits. So a lot of problems are starting to pile up, but we’re still seeing each side be pretty dug into its respective point of view. There are bipartisan conversations right now going on in the Senate. I just spoke with House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, and he was speaking a little bit about the negotiations that are happening with a continuing resolution and a minibus. But really what we see happening here is a lot of going around in circles. They keep landing on the same issues that we’ve had since the very beginning, like with Affordable Care Act tax credits. So it’s kind of a question mark right now where we’ll be able to get out of this, but it does seem like there’s intense pressure on both sides to reach an agreement.

Terry Gerton Well, there was some optimism at the beginning of last week that faded by the end of the week. There was perhaps hope that they could move that minibus with the three agreed-upon appropriations bills, MILCON, VA, USDA, and Leg Branch. What’s going to happen there?

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, we saw a lot of confidence, especially on Monday, with that three-bill minibus. After Tuesday’s elections, Democrats did better than a lot of people were expecting, and that kind of, you could say, inspired them to dig in a little bit more. They see that as a, that the American people are kind of on their side with this. And so things have derailed a little bit. Although I will say for the first 35 days of the shutdown, there were barely any bipartisan negotiations in the House or Senate. And now we’re actually seeing senators sit in rooms together and and talk about a way out. So, that is kind of a step forward to ending the shutdown, even though there isn’t any sort of agreement yet.

Terry Gerton Well, certainly in other pressure points, the FAA’s reduction of domestic air travel, the reduction in SNAP benefits, and coming up on another military pay cycle, all of those were expected to be pressure points. Are you seeing that anybody is feeling the need to respond to those?

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, and especially with the flight delays, you hear a lot about this because in the 2018-2019 shutdown, that was kind of a big forcing mechanism for lawmakers to make a deal. And we actually did see the FAA have to cut hundreds of flights already at airports across the country. So what you’re going to see is people having delayed flights, people having canceled flights, and that’s obviously a pretty big disruption. Lawmakers are taking note of that. It’s making things much more urgent, especially with the holidays coming up, being the busiest travel time of the year. With SNAP benefits, I would say that there’s been a lot of discussion about this, but there is that kind of legal fight going on between the Trump administration and judges over how many benefits and whether they can immediately put out full benefits. So there’s been a lot of questions around that, but there definitely is a lot of stress from the perspective of the 42 million Americans who received these food stamps and didn’t get them at the beginning of the month.

Terry Gerton Right. And I guess the other point that we had expected to maybe move hearts and minds was the healthcare premiums increase. I mean, the feds are now in Open Season, other folks are looking at the ACA premium benefits. That doesn’t seem to be having the effect people expected either.

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, Democrats for a long time had said that November 1st was a huge day in this whole experience because that’s the day that people would begin open enrollment, see that their premiums were going up. And while that did happen to a degree, it’s not really having any sort of shutdown-ending effect. We’re hearing Senate Democrats really calling for an ACA subsidy extension, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that he would put that on the floor for an up or down vote. But the big problem here, or the big hang up, is that Speaker Mike Johnson in the House won’t promise to put that on the House floor for a vote. So, getting a bill through the Senate is all well and good, but it doesn’t really have any impact unless you can guarantee that it will also go through the House. And that’s why we’re seeing these negotiations repeatedly come up against this same obstacle.

Terry Gerton Well, you mentioned that folks are at least meeting in in the same room to have some conversations. Do you have a sense of what the non negotiables are from each side?

Maeve Sheehy  It seems to me that, well, from the House perspective, I’ll start with that ’cause I’m a House reporter. Speaker Johnson does not want to negotiate at all because he believes that the House has done its job and that Democrats are kind of holding the government ransom. In the Senate, it seems like Democrats are intent on having some sort of healthcare takeaway. They also want to make sure that federal workers who have been furloughed over the past month will get their back pay. That is guaranteed under law, under 2019 law. And until this shutdown, it’s been pretty understood that federal workers who are furloughed will get back pay. But there’s been some questioning about the legality of that, and the Trump administration has suggested that perhaps they won’t get the back pay, which would be a really big deal, obviously, for a lot of federal workers.

Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Maeve Sheehy. She’s a congressional reporter with Bloomberg Government. Well, Maeve, to that exact point about back pay for federal workers, Ron Johnson has a bill to pay excepted federal workers and military service members during the shutdown. Is that getting traction?

Maeve Sheehy It’s one of those things that sounds like it would, but actually hasn’t. Basically, Democrats have said — most Democrats have said, it’s gotten some bipartisan votes — but that they don’t want to kind of except very narrow parts of the workforce and allow them to get paid because that could leave vulnerable other people not to get paid. Because Ron Johnson’s bill would pay some federal workers, but not every single federal worker. And I think that that’s kind of the big sticking point and that’s what’s stopping it from getting more traction than it has.

Terry Gerton That’s an interesting take on it. Let’s change topics just a little bit. What else is going on with the legislative agenda? We know that the NDAA might be moving to conference soon. What else are you hearing?

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, in the House there’s really not much happening at all because they’ve been out of session for almost fifty days at this point. It’s been a really, really long time, and there haven’t been committee meetings, there haven’t been sort of the bipartisan meetings that there usually would be. So that’s obviously hampering things over here. In the Senate, they’ve been able to do a little bit more. And also, as you mentioned earlier, there are discussions about appropriations. So even if Congress does pass a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded or to fund the government again, there are still those appropriations bills that are really important in the eyes of lawmakers to get done.

Terry Gerton So really until we get the shutdown sorted, not a whole lot else happening in those back rooms on the Hill.

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, we’ve been hearing a lot less about pretty much every single policy area ever since the government shutdown happened, just because it’s become the number one issue.

Terry Gerton Well, there was one other tidbit of information last week. Nancy Pelosi announced she’s not going to run for re-election. How did that play out?

Maeve Sheehy Yeah, it wasn’t necessarily a surprising decision because Pelosi had sort of hinted that maybe this would be her last term. She’s been on the Hill for so long, this is her, I believe, twenty-first or twentieth term in office. So she’s one of the longest serving members. I think the real question that this raises for me and that I’ve heard on the Hill as well is, will some of these other longest serving members, like Congressman Steny Hoyer, who served in leadership with Pelosi, like, will they also kind of take this as their time to leave? And the Democratic Party has had this whole question of generational change, of passing the torch, ever since President Biden stepped down. There were all of these questions about committee leaders in the House. So it’s really interesting to look at who is in leadership positions in the House and how long some of them have been there.

Terry Gerton That generational change question continues to come up, so we’ll see whether she’s opened up the door for others.

Maeve Sheehy That’s the big question.

The post Signs of movement in shutdown negotiations on the Hill first appeared on Federal News Network.

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Interview transcript: 

Terry Gerton Well, we’re now in the midst of the longest lapse in appropriations in our government’s history at the federal level, so we kind of were tuned in to the impacts right away on federal workers and contractor workers. What are you seeing now that this has gone on for over a month?

Andrew Turnbull [It’s] really creating a lot of challenges for federal contractors and their employees. I think we’ve seen, unfortunately over the last decade or so, a number of different government shutdowns. And so I think it’s not surprising to either federal contractors or employees that there was going to be a shutdown potentially this time. I think what is surprising at this point is how long it’s going on. And so this is really causing a lot of issues for contractors and their employees. You know, certainly from the contractor side of the house, some are experiencing stop work orders; they’ve already had those. They’re getting delays in contracts, awards and payments. And obviously this impacts their cash flows, their project timelines, how are they going to do the work that they’re contracted to do, but it also has a lot of ripple effects for their employees. We are seeing a lot of cases where certain contractors’ employees have been permanently laid off. In a lot of other cases they’re just being furloughed and some of them are being asked to use their PTO during this period of time to kind of cover their pay. But, you know, this is continuing to go on and so that PTO is running out and that is causing a lot of unique issues for contractors to have to navigate. And so there’s a lot of business and legal issues for contractors to consider here. They need to think through various federal and state compliance issues like wage and hour issues, providing advanced notice for layoffs. If they have unionized workforces, maybe there are going to be issues with having to comply with their collective bargaining agreements or potentially bargaining with their unions. And then from the business side of the house there are a lot of practical issues in terms of trying to have good employee relations here. You know, they want to certainly treat their employees the right way and also try to retain the talent so when the shutdown hopefully ends and they get the work back they can have everybody back in the seat and retain the good people.

Terry Gerton Talk us through some of those labor law issues that apply to the private sector that are different from how federal employees, furloughed federal employees or accepted service are are affected.

Andrew Turnbull One of the big issues that comes up here is wage and hour compliance. And that applies sometimes to federal employees as well, but also certainly to private contractors. And there’s a federal and state overlay that can sometimes have conflicting rules on certain things. A lot of contractors have had to furlough employees so they don’t have work for them at a certain point in time. And if you’re talking about non-exempt employees, employees who are eligible for overtime and are hourly workers, it’s generally, from a wage and hour perspective, pretty easy for compliance because if they’re not working, you don’t have to pay them. Now that could not be the case, particularly if you have a collective bargaining agreement, there may be issues where you have to bargain with the union or comply with that. But it becomes much more complex where you have exempt employees who you pay a salary to and you don’t have to pay overtime to. Exempt employees, per federal and state law, have to receive their full salary for any week in which they perform any work. Now, this is regardless of the number of days or hours that they work in a week, and you can’t deduct from their salary for like partial day absences. So, you know, essentially what contractors have to do is make sure that they don’t perform any work during a work week during a furlough, or they could be on the hook to pay their entire salary. And if you fail to comply with this, you potentially could lose the exempt status for that employee. And in some circumstances, you may lose that for all employees who are in the same position, so it’s a big issue to comply with. And this creates a lot of practical challenges because we all know during shutdowns, there’s a lot of ongoing work where things kind of ramp up, may shut down, or maybe it’s periodic. And so how do you comply with this? How do you tell people, hey, you can’t work at all, or you can only work these amounts, and making sure that you have the funds to pay for these things. And in some cases, the government’s not going to pay you for all the idle time that they’re doing. And then it creates practical challenges from a compliance and also a business perspective. Another issue that can come up too is that some contractors, unfortunately, due to being cash-strapped, may have to ask certain employees to take salary reductions. And they can do that under federal law. State laws may differ on some of this, but they have to be very careful in terms of how they do these salary reductions. Obviously, there’s an employee relations issue to that, but from a wage and hour perspective, they can’t reduce it below a certain minimum salary threshold, or they can void that exempt status. And they also can’t kind of fluctuate their salary back and forth because if they do that, then they’re considered more like hourly employees, and they may also lose the exempt. PTO can also create some interesting issues as well. Most companies that have PTO policies, they have to make a business decision. Do we want to force our employees to use their accrued PTO during this period of time? You know, that’s not an easy question for all companies. Employees sometimes view that very negatively, but from a compliance perspective, most of the time, employers can have a right to force their employees to use their PTO subject to certain exceptions. Certain state laws may have certain rules around when you can have employees use their PTO. For example, PTO may include paid sick leave and some states have mandatory paid sick leave thresholds, and it could violate paid sick leave laws to mandate that an employee have to take a paid sick leave for something like a furlough, which is not a covered reason for that sick leave.

Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Andrew Turnbull. He’s the co-chair of the employment and labor practice at Morrison and Foerster. It sounds like from a corporate HR perspective, this is a really tricky time. And on top of that, the federal Wage and Hour office is mostly furloughed, so there’s less oversight and really not anybody to call if you have questions. How are companies navigating in this time frame?

Andrew Turnbull Yeah, I think at this point a lot of companies are having to make sure that they look at their compliance. There are a lot of areas that you can misstep, and even though maybe some of these federal regulators right now are not looking at these claims, certainly the plaintiff’s bar is. And employees know how to contact attorneys and enforce their rights. And in some cases, these attorneys are not going to go through federal enforcement agencies, they’re gonna go straight to court, particularly for wage and hour issues. Another issue that can come up here is the federal WARN Act. And states have a lot of WARN laws, and that creates a lot of issues. So these WARN laws typically require contractors to provide advanced notice if they are going to lay off and, in some cases, furlough employees for a certain period of time. Under the federal WARN Act, if there is a mass layoff or a plant closing, you have to provide sixty days advanced notice. Now you could, in some instances, pay in lieu of, but that’s a bigger chunk of money if the company can’t provide that advanced notice. The good news is under federal WARN, they do have an exemption for furloughs. So, if it’s not an actual employment loss, you do and plan as the employer to call back these individuals to work, there is a six-month period of time where you could furlough someone without triggering WARN. We hope that this shutdown does not go past six months, so for most federal contractors, you may not trigger federal WARN. But not all states follow that same exception for their many state WARN laws. For example, California famously does not follow that. If you have furloughed employees for a certain period of time and you trigger that law from a WARN perspective, you may still have to comply with it. It creates a very nuanced kind of patchwork of laws that you have to kind of think through in this area. And that’s just one example of the many things that contractors have to continue to navigate.

Terry Gerton It sounds like there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of variability in how these wage and hour laws apply to companies depending on where they are, how long their folks might be off the job and when they might alert them to come back. Are there best practices that you suggest for companies as they’re trying to communicate with their employees about what’s happening?

Andrew Turnbull Yes, I think it is hard for a lot of contractors to [spend] a lot of time in these in these types of situations. You may receive a stop work order and have to immediately stop work and make decisions on that.  But I think this is where trying to get as much advanced planning as possible is very key here. There are a lot of issues to consider and plan for, as we’ve talked about: wage and hour issues, WARN issues. And a lot of times when you have contractors, there are a lot of stakeholders that you have to consider internally, both from a management and executive capacity. You may have other types of subcontractors and other entities that you may need consider what to do with. There are a lot of decisions to be made. Planning as early as possible is very key here. And, working closely with your internal or external counsel to understand what the landmines are that you need to navigate here. As you mentioned, communication is key, and that goes for multiple levels. One of those is making sure you communicate with your customer, the government customer, what are the expectations here from the government customer? Is it completely stopping work? Is it stop and start? What are their expectations? They may not know all of these things, but certainly trying to have good communication with them to understand what they are being pressured to do at this point in terms of their funding, what do they expect. And that will hopefully give you some insight to plan a little bit better. Also, understand in past government shutdowns, some contractors were not reimbursed for days their employees were idle. I don’t know if agencies are going to have clarity on that here, but maybe talk with your contracting officers to understand if that is going to be the case going forward. They may not have received any direction on that yet, but [it’s] certainly something to cover with your contracting officer. Also, make sure you communicate with, obviously, impacted employees. Retention and employee morale is key here. It’s a difficult time for everyone and I think [it’s beneficial] having some sensitivity with your employees, making sure that your communications are clear, consistent, transparent. Obviously, you may not know all the details of everything, but try to be as transparent as possible. Make sure they understand the rules of the road that you’ve set in place and make sure that managers understand those things as well. We talked about the wage and hour compliance issue earlier, and if you have employees who are exempt employees, who are furloughed in a week, and you don’t want them to perform any work during that work week so you don’t have to actually pay their full salary. You want to make sure that you have communications in place to inform employees: do not perform any work. You may even want to think about taking a step further and saying, we’re just going to cut your system access during this period of time so you can’t actually work. You might want to hop on an email and we don’t want to have to pay you for that. These are all things that you have to kind of think through as a best practice [in these scenarios]. I think the other thing is there are a lot of things that can come into play here from a contractual and legal perspective. Sometimes we will find that in the haste of doing things, people may forget, oh yeah, this employee actually has an employment agreement that requires severance. Maybe it’s for good reason if you diminish their duties at all, and a furlough may trigger that. [You should] making sure that you know where all the different traps could be can take time to pull these things together. So checking all those boxes. And then this is obviously a fluid situation. Be prepared to monitor and adjust and ramp back up and ramp down as need be.

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An IT glitch at the Department of Veterans Affairs is delaying the payment of education benefits for thousands of veterans’ surviving children and spouses.

The VA, through its Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program, part of the GI Bill, pays education benefits for the children and spouses of veterans or service members who have died, been captured or are missing, or are totally disabled from a service-connected disability. The payments help eligible students pay for school or cover expenses while training for a job. Full-time students enrolled in this program receive nearly $1,600 each month from the VA.

The VA, in its latest contingency plans, said education benefits would be unaffected by a government shutdown, and would continue to be paid out on time. But the department has furloughed the IT staff who are able to fix this issue, and the department’s GI Bill hotline is also closed during the shutdown.

VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement that some VA education benefits payments are behind schedule “due to the combined effects” of recently moving to a new claims processing system, a high volume of fall enrollments and the government shutdown.

“VA had planned additional systems enhancements to speed up the process and automate a large batch of these claims, but the Democrats’ government shutdown prevents the department from doing so,” Kasperowicz said.

Kasperowicz said any student dealing with delayed payments will be paid in full as soon as possible. The VA expects it will take until late November or early December to fully resolve the issue.

So far this month, the VA’s average processing time for these claims is about 49 days.

Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, director of government and legislative affairs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), told reporters on Monday that the VA had updated the IT systems that handle these education benefits payments this summer. The VA in September reported a glitch to Congress that impacted education benefits for about 900 individuals.

Lohmann, however, said the department underestimated the impact of the glitch. In reality, she said it may have delayed payments for up to 75,000 student beneficiaries.

“VA never put anything out on out to schools. They never let the schools know that there was a problem. They never let students know that there was a problem. They told Congress it was a minor glitch. They have never taken accountability for what has happened here,” Lohmann said.

Jonathan Mackey, a senior at Southeastern Louisiana University, said he only received a partial payment of $839 last week, about $500 short of his usual monthly payment. He said the partial payment has made it harder to cover living expenses this month. Mackey, whose late father served in the Iowa National Guard, said VA’s “lack of community and accountability” has been a major source of frustration.

“Calls to the VA education have been unanswered, and we weren’t informed about the processing delays before the shutdown,” he said. “While we’re told by the schools that we’ll receive back pay eventually, we don’t know when that eventually is. And that doesn’t really help us pay the bills or feed ourselves in the meantime.”

Kaanan Mackey-Fugler, Mackey’s mother and a surviving spouse who forfeited her survivor benefits when she remarried, said this is now the third semester she’s had to step in and cover living expenses for at least one of her adult children, while they wait for reimbursement from the VA.

“Before the shutdown, we were told that our benefits wouldn’t be affected. Yet, here we are. Students and families across the country are desperate, and they’re anxious about how they’re covering bills month to month while our system’s still stalled out,” Fulger said.

Lawmakers have reached a deal to end the government shutdown, which should make it out of Congress and onto President Donald Trump’s desk later this week. But Will Hubbard, the vice president for veterans and military policy at Veterans Education Success, called on the VA to immediately reopen the GI Bill hotline and bring back furloughed IT staff to expedite claims processing.

“While there’s a deal in the works with the shutdown coming to a conclusion, every single day counts,” Hubbard said. “You have to understand that if a student is missing their payment, they’re wondering what’s going to happen the next day – not in three days, not in five days.”

In a recent survey of over 2,400 students, the National Association of Veterans Program Administrators (NAVPA) found that more than 1,000 reported payment disruptions, and that 740 of them attributed those delays directly to the shutdown. NAVPA President Camden Ege said students have been told to reach out to their schools if there is a problem with their VA education benefits, but said schools “don’t have those answers.”

“While the immediate cause stems from a technical glitch in VA systems, the government shutdown has made matters worse,” Ege said.

Joe Wescott, national legislative liaison for the National Association of State Approving Agencies, said that the VA should have alerted schools to its IT problems before the shutdown.

“The beginning of the fall term, this is not a good time to roll out an IT fix, about which there is uncertainty – not at all,” Wescott said.

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The Senate’s initial agreement toward ending the longest-ever government shutdown includes provisions that would secure back pay for all federal employees, as well as reverse the Trump administration’s recent reductions in force.

Though much is still up in the air and subject to possible changes, the early steps in the process indicate that, if the Senate bill’s current language is maintained, both excepted and furloughed federal employees would receive back pay dating to Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began.

Federal employees, regardless of whether they are furloughed or excepted, have always received back pay following every past shutdown, due to one-time actions from Congress. It wasn’t until 2019 that Congress passed — and President Donald Trump signed — a law meant to ensure federal employees are compensated retroactively for all shutdowns going forward.

Questions over back pay arose once again, however, after the Office of Management and Budget released a draft legal opinion in October, suggesting that furloughed employees are not automatically ensured back pay after all.

Many lawmakers, attorneys and unions harshly criticized the White House’s opinion, calling it a clear misinterpretation of the 2019 Government Employees Fair Treatment Act.

Throughout the funding lapse, the Trump administration has shuffled funding to compensate select groups of the federal workforce, as well as military members, while hundreds of thousands of others have missed two paychecks since the shutdown began.

The Senate took the first step toward ending the shutdown on Sunday, clearing a procedural hurdle that required 60 votes to move the spending legislation forward in the appropriations process. All but eight Democrats voted against the spending measure. But an actual end to the shutdown may still be at least several days away.

The current agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government, including food aid, veterans’ programs and the legislative branch. A continuing resolution would fund most other agency appropriations until the end of January, giving lawmakers more than two months to finish the additional spending bills.

The Senate’s legislation over the weekend would also compel agencies to reverse all reduction-in-force actions that have taken place since the shutdown began. About 4,200 federal employees across government received RIF notices in mid-October, following guidance from the White House that encouraged agencies to move forward with layoffs in the event of a funding lapse.

Most, but not all, of those RIF actions are currently on hold due to a preliminary injunction granted by a district court judge last month. Federal unions are suing the Trump administration over the layoffs, alleging that they violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Senate’s tentative agreement would also temporarily bar the Trump administration from conducting further RIFs until late January.

Federal employee organizations and unions expressed strong support for the provisions to secure back pay for federal employees and protect against RIFs.

“These protections provide for fundamental fairness,” Marcus Hill, president of the Senior Executives Association, said Monday. “They also safeguard continuity of government operations, preserve critical talent, and stabilize and extend funding for missions and services that millions of Americans rely on daily.”

“Millions of federal employees have missed paychecks, forcing them to assume significant financial cost, risk and uncertainty,” William Shackelford, national president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), said. “Government shutdowns — partial as they are — harm dedicated public servants and the missions and people they serve.”

The American Federation of Government Employees threw in additional support for the passage of the Shutdown Fairness Act, a Republican-led bill to pay federal employees immediately during the current government shutdown, as well as any future ones.

“While we are glad that the shutdown is coming to an end for now, we remain concerned about the growing use of government shutdowns as leverage for political gain,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said. “That’s why AFGE strongly supports the bipartisan Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay federal workers during government shutdowns, ensuring that federal employees will never be used as political pawns again.”

The Shutdown Fairness Act failed to advance in the Senate on Friday. Democrats largely voted down the legislation on the grounds that it did not include guardrails to prevent the Trump administration from paying some federal employees and not others.

After the bill initially failed to move forward two weeks ago, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) expanded his legislation to include furloughed employees and federal contractors. The bill initially only provided immediate pay for excepted employees who continue to work during a shutdown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Senate Democrats have again blocked a Republican-led effort to immediately pay federal employees under the government shutdown, arguing that the GOP bill in its current form does not include enough guardrails on the Trump administration.

All but three Democrats voted down the advancement of the Shutdown Fairness Act, resulting in a vote of 53-43 on the Senate floor Friday evening. The motion failed to reach the 60 votes required to limit debate and move the legislation more quickly to a final vote.

After the bill failed to move forward two weeks ago, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the bill’s lead cosponsor, expanded the legislation to include furloughed employees and federal contractors. The bill initially only provided immediate pay for excepted employees who are continuing to work during the funding lapse.

The Shutdown Fairness Act would apply for the current shutdown, and payments would be backdated to Oct. 1, when the shutdown began.

Ahead of the vote on the bill, Johnson pushed back against Democrats’ arguments and denied that it would give too much leeway to the Trump administration.

“I know some people want to reduce authority, but that’s a bill that won’t be signed,” Johnson said. “If you want to pay the federal workers, if you want to stop punishing them for our dysfunction, if you want to stop using them as pawns in this political game, that’s a demand you have to drop.”

Earlier on Friday, Johnson attempted to move forward the Shutdown Fairness Act with a motion for unanimous consent. But Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) blocked the motion, arguing that Johnson’s bill would not prevent the Trump administration from limiting the pay to only select groups of the federal workforce, or from using the bill’s funds for purposes outside of paying employees.

“I just deeply, deeply appreciate that Senator Johnson has updated his proposal to pay all federal employees during the shutdown to include furloughed workers,” Peters said. “But unfortunately, I just still have some concerns about the way that the bill has been drafted so far … There’s too much wiggle room for the administration to basically pick and choose which federal employees are paid and when.”

“Every employee is now included. There’s no discretion whatsoever in terms of who’s furloughed, who gets brought back to work, who gets paid,” Johnson responded. “There’s no picking and choosing. That is completely false.”

Most civilian federal employees have missed their second paycheck as of Friday. Hundreds of thousands of employees have been working without pay for the duration of the shutdown, while hundreds of thousands of others have been furloughed for weeks.

Throughout the shutdown, the Trump administration has shuffled funding to compensate select groups of the federal workforce, as well as military members, while hundreds of thousands of others continue to go without pay.

Peters pushed for the passage of a counterproposal, called the Military and Federal Employee Protection Act. Peters’ bill is similar to Johnson’s, but it additionally clarifies that the Trump administration cannot use the bill’s funds for purposes other than paying employees.

After the unanimous consent motion was struck down, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) then called for a vote to invoke cloture on the Shutdown Fairness Act, which later failed Friday evening.

“I don’t know how anybody in their right mind can walk into this chamber, look these people in the eye, and say, ‘We’re not going to pay you,’” Thune said.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, endorsed Johnson’s legislation, calling it “long overdue.” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said Friday that the amended version was a “significant improvement,” since it now covers furloughed employees and contractors as well. The union urged Congress to pass the bill.

“Every missed paycheck deepens the financial hole in which federal workers and their families find themselves,” Kelley said. “By the time Congress reaches a compromise, the damage will have been done — to their bank accounts, their credit ratings, their health and their dignity.”

Last week, AFGE also called on Congress to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government. The union said the shutdown has gone on far too long — and that any political arguments should only continue once the funding lapse is ended and all federal employees are paid.

All excepted and furloughed federal employees are guaranteed retroactive pay once a shutdown ends, due to a 2019 law. But the White House has recently called that guarantee into question, arguing that the law does not automatically ensure back pay for furloughed employees.

Many lawmakers, attorneys and unions have pushed back against what they described as a clear misinterpretation of the law from the White House.

There appeared to be some bipartisan progress earlier this week toward putting an end to the government shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday made a new offer to reopen the government, although Bloomberg reported that Republicans saw the proposal as a “nonstarter.”

The Senate is expected to stay in session over the weekend for the first time since the shutdown began. The House has remained out of session since September.

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