Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, speaks at a press conference with other Senate Democrats following weekly policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 30, 2025. Nathan Posner / Anadolu / Getty Images
Reintroduced bill would shield federal employees from shutdown-related foreclosures and evictions
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, has reintroduced a bill that would let federal employees and contractors defer financial problems caused by a government shutdown, a proposal he has introduced multiple times since 2019.
While the government shutdown continues to wear on, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is again trying hand at a bill to help blunt some of the financial impacts for federal employees and contractors not paid during the budget impasse.
Schatz said in an Oct. 8 statement that he was bringing back the Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, legislation the senator has tried to advance into law three times before that would allow personnel affected by the shutdown delay some of the financial repercussions of not being paid.
“Right now, hundreds of thousands of federal workers, federal contractor employees, and their families don’t know whether they’ll be able to pay rent and make ends meet. Our bill will protect these workers and make sure they aren’t harmed during this shutdown,” said Schatz in a statement.
The legislation would allow federal employees and contractors to apply for a temporary stay in court during a shutdown to postpone debts like “rent, mortgage, tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium, student loan repayment or other civil obligation or liability,” as well as to delay proceedings like eviction, foreclosure, tax liens, student loan debt, negative credit reporting and other financial obligations.
The bill’s roots date back to when Schatz and then former Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., penned companion bills in the wake of the 35-day partial government shutdown in 2019.
The pair brought it back in 2021 and 2023, with last version adding debt default protections for federal employees and contractors. The legislation never advanced out of committee. Kilmer stepped down from his House seat in January after declining to seek another term.
Eighteen Senate Democrats joined Schatz in co-sponsoring this year’s bill, which has labor support from the National Treasury Employees Union, International Federal of Professional and Technical Engineers, National Federation of Federal Employees-IAM, American Federation of Government Employees, National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, Laborers' International Union of North America and the Transport Workers Union.
Trump directs DOD to use available funding to pay military personnel
As the likelihood grew that military personnel would not receive a paycheck on Wednesday as a result of the shutdown, the president said in an Oct. 11 social media post that he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th.”
Multiple outlets cited that the payroll funding would come from unobligated Pentagon research and development funds, per an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson.
The move comes despite multiple bills stalled in Congress to authorize not only military pay, but also for federal civilian employees while the shutdown continues.