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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