The Shutdown is Over

Congress passed a stopgap spending bill Monday afternoon bringing the partial government shutdown to an end after three days.

Congress approved a new stopgap spending bill this afternoon to reestablish full government operations. President Trump has signed the bill, thereby officially reestablishing government operations and allowing federal employees to get back to work on Tuesday.

The Office of Personnel Management confirmed that the government is open and federal employees are expected to report to work as usual on Tuesday morning.

However, the government will only be funded until February 8, so lawmakers can continue their bickering back and forth with the hope that they may reach a longer term deal before the latest round of temporary funding expires.

Will there be another shutdown after funding runs out in a couple of weeks? It’s certainly possible but no way to know at this point what may transpire.

Will Federal Employees Get Paid for Lost Time?

Federal employees will be compensated for the three days that appropriations lapsed. The new stopgap spending measure passed by Congress includes language from a bill introduced before the shutdown began to guarantee back pay for federal employees.

“It is deeply disappointing that Congress was unable to prevent a government shutdown, but the passage of the our bill’s language should at least minimize the damage to rank-and-file civil servants,” said Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), one of the sponsors of the bill. “I thank my colleague Rep. Wittman for standing up for the federal workforce again, and hope that this will be the last time that this bill is necessary.”

Unlike federal employees, Members of Congress still get paid during a government shutdown. However, a number of lawmakers have pledged to forego their salaries for the days that the government was shut down. Bills were also introduced to withhold pay for Members of Congress in the event the government shuts down in the future.

Stocks surged to new all-time highs on the news that the shutdown was coming to an end, with the Dow closing Monday up 142.88 points higher.

About the Author

Ian Smith is one of the co-founders of FedSmith.com. He has over 20 years of combined experience in media and government services, having worked at two government contracting firms and an online news and web development company prior to his current role at FedSmith.