WASHINGTON – Maryland’s Democratic senators voted Thursday against a Republican proposal that would provide back pay only to certain essential federal workers during the shutdown.
The Shutdown Fairness Act, introduced by Senate Republicans, would pay federal law enforcement officers, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers and active troops during the shutdown.
Democrats objected to this bill, instead holding out for back pay for all federal employees affected by the shutdown.
“The best way to make sure that federal employees – all federal employees – get paid, and that the American people get the benefits of their services, is to reopen the government and do it now,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, said during Senate debate.
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Maryland, added, “Our ask today is simple: pay them for the jobs that they were hired to do.”
Van Hollen introduced a different version of the bill, outlining back pay for the entire furloughed workforce. The True Shutdown Fairness Act also would prohibit firings of federal workers during a government shutdown.
Van Hollen clashed with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, on the contents of both bills. Johnson objected to taking up Van Hollen’s measure. Van Hollen called Johnson’s bill “dangerous” and pushed to expand the measure to cover all federal workers and prevent firings.
“We certainly shouldn’t set up a system where the president of the United States gets to decide what agencies to shut down…who to pay and who not to pay, who to punish, who to not punish,” Van Hollen said.
“I don’t think we should limit the president’s ability…to properly manage the federal government, and make the tough decisions, sometimes, to reduce the workforce,” Johnson countered.
Johnson encouraged Van Hollen to resolve differences through bipartisan cooperation.
“There’s a lot of areas of agreement,” Johnson said.
Van Hollen appeared open to this idea, stating that he would be “happy to sit down with him and his team to see if we can put together a proposal.”
However, Van Hollen ultimately opted against a motion to vote on the Shutdown Fairness Act.
“Our proposal doesn’t discriminate among federal employees,” Van Hollen said.
Federal workers are guaranteed retroactive pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, a law Van Hollen and then-Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland helped pass during the previous shutdown in Trump’s first term.
The law ensures back pay once Congress approves new spending to open the government, but not until the shutdown is over.
Currently, Van Hollen’s True Shutdown Fairness Act bill is backed by several federal employee unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees and National Federation of Federal Employees.
NFFE National President Randy Erwin said in a statement that over 1 million employees will miss a paycheck as the shutdown enters its fifth week, and that their members are being upended both “financially and personally.”
“Many are picking up second jobs, filing for unemployment, and waiting in lines at food banks just to survive,” Erwin said. “They have been forced to cancel trips to see family, removed their children from sports and extracurricular activities, and are struggling to pay for childcare and college tuition.”
Maryland is home to more than 160,000 federal employees, many of whom have been furloughed since the onset of the shutdown.
“It’s been 23 days of this administration using the shutdown as an excuse to further target federal workers who are my constituents,” Alsobrooks said.
The Republicans’ back pay measure failed to reach the 60-vote threshold for passage, with a final tally of 54 in favor of moving forward with the bill.
The House, meanwhile, remains out of session on the orders of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who insists he will not negotiate with Democrats over terms of ending the shutdown.
This leaves the Congress without an immediate path to paying federal workers. However, lawmakers could revisit other proposals, including Van Hollen’s, if talks resume next week.