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H.R. 5801
U.S. House•In House Committee
Summary
H.R. 5801, the Shutdown Fairness Act, was introduced in the House on Oct 21, 2025 by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R) with 17 co-sponsors. It was referred to Appropriations, and last saw action on Oct 21, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
Record
Text
H.R. 5801 has 17 co-sponsors.
hb5801/introduced-in-house.txt119 HR 5801 IH: Shutdown Fairness ActU.S. House of Representatives2025-10-21text/xmlENPursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5801 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 21, 2025 Mr. Johnson of South Dakota (for himself, Mr. Mackenzie , Mr. Wied , Mrs. Bice , Mr. Issa , Mr. Lawler , Mr. Mann , Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia , and Mrs. Miller-Meeks ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations A BILLTo appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Shutdown Fairness Act .2.Appropriations(a)DefinitionsIn this section—(1)the term agency means each authority of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States;(2)the term excepted employee —(A)means an employee of an agency who the head of that agency determines is an excepted employee or an employee performing emergency work, as those terms are defined by the Office of Personnel Management; and(B)includes—(i)a contractor who—(I)provides support to an employee described in subparagraph (A); and(II)is required to perform work during a lapse in appropriations, as determined by the head of the agency with respect to which the contractor provides support; and(ii)a member of the Armed Forces on active duty; and(3)the term excepted work means work performed by an excepted employee during a period during which interim or full-year appropriations for the applicable fiscal year are not in effect for the applicable agency.(b)AppropriationsFor fiscal year 2026, and any fiscal year thereafter, for any period during which interim continuing appropriations or full-year appropriations for that fiscal year are not in effect for an agency, there are appropriated to the head of the agency, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are necessary to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments otherwise payable on a regular basis to excepted employees of the agency with respect to any period of excepted work performed by the excepted employees.(c)TerminationAppropriations and funds made available and authority granted under subsection (b) shall be available to the head of an agency until whichever of the following first occurs:(1)The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) that provide amounts for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b).(2)The enactment into law of appropriations for the agency until the end of the applicable fiscal year (including a continuing appropriation) without any appropriation for such purposes.(d)Interim continuing appropriationsAppropriations made available under subsection (b) may not be obligated by the head of an agency during any period during which continuing appropriations for the purposes for which amounts are made available under subsection (b) are in effect for the agency.(e)Charging to full-Year appropriationsObligations or expenditures made by the head of an agency pursuant to subsection (b) shall be charged to the applicable appropriation for the agency whenever a regular appropriation bill or a measure making continuing appropriations until the end of the applicable fiscal year for the agency becomes law.(f)Retroactive effective dateThis Act shall take effect as if enacted on September 30, 2025.
Tracker
The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.
- Introduced2025-10-21
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Conference
- To President
- Became Law
CRS Summary
The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.
Introduced in House Oct 21, 2025
hb5801/introduced-in-house.mdShown Here:
Introduced in House (10/21/2025)
Shutdown Fairness Act
This bill provides appropriations to pay federal employees who work during a government shutdown.
Specifically, the bill provides appropriations for federal agencies to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments to excepted employees for work performed during any period in which interim continuing appropriations or full-year appropriations are not in effect for a fiscal year (i.e., a government shutdown). An excepted employee is an employee who is required to work during a government shutdown.
Under current law, excepted employees are not paid until the government shutdown is over. This bill provides appropriations to pay excepted employees during a government shutdown. The bill also specifies that the term excepted employee includes certain contractors who support federal employees during a government shutdown and members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty.
A federal agency may not use the funds provided by this bill during any period in which continuing appropriations are in effect for the purpose of paying excepted employees of the agency.
The bill must take effect as if it had been enacted on September 30, 2025.
Sponsors
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R) sponsors H.R. 5801, and 17 members have co-sponsored it, 8 of them from the day it was introduced.

Rep. · R–SD · Sponsor
Introduced Oct 21, 2025

Rep. · R–OK-5 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–CA-48 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–NY-17 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–PA-7 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–KS-1 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–IA-1 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–GA-8 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–WI-8 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 21, 2025 · Original

Rep. · R–GA-12 · Co-sponsor
Joined Oct 24, 2025
Committees
H.R. 5801 went before 1 committee: Appropriations.
Actions
H.R. 5801 has taken 2 actions since Oct 21, 2025.
| Chamber | Action | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Oct 21, 2025 | House | Introduced in House | ||
Oct 21, 2025 | House | Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.Appropriations Committee |
Votes
H.R. 5801 has not gone to a roll call.
Related bills
3 bills are related to H.R. 5801.
S 3001Shutdown Fairness ActOct 9, 2025 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. · Related bill
S 3012Shutdown Fairness ActNov 7, 2025 · Upon reconsideration, cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure not invok… · Identical bill
S 3066Pay the People ActOct 28, 2025 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. · Related billTitles
H.R. 5801 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.
- Shutdown Fairness Act — Display Title
- Shutdown Fairness Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
- To appropriate funds for pay and allowances of excepted Federal employees for periods of work performed during a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced
Lobbying
3 clients hired 3 firms and 20 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 5801 in 10 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.
Filed under Health Issues, Government Issues, Defense, Education, Medicare/Medicaid, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Budget/Appropriations, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace.
Clients
Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.
| Client | Business | State | Firms | Filings | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | — | Maryland | 1 | 4 | — |
| FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | — | Virginia | 1 | 3 | — |
| NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | — | District of Columbia | 1 | 3 | — |
Firms
Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.
| Registrant | Clients | Filings | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | 1 | 4 | — |
| FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | 1 | 3 | — |
| NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | 1 | 3 | — |
Lobbyists
Named on the filings that cite the bill.
| Lobbyist | Firms | Clients | Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAROLINE BERGNER | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| ERIC MASTEN | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| INOKA TENNAKOON | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| JERRY WHITE | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| JOSH KRANTZ | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| KEVIN STUTMAN | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| NEELA SWANSON | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| REBECCA BOWEN | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| SARAH WARREN | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| WILLIAM KNUDSEN | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| GREG STANFORD | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| JENNIFER TYREE | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| KATHERINE SYBENGA | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| MARAM ABDELHAMID | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| MATTHEW SOCKNAT | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| MATTHEW SOWARDS | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| KURT VORNDRAN | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| REGINA HUTTER | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| COLLEEN COSTELLO | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| JOSH NASSAR | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Filings
The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.
| Client | Registrant | Period | Reported | Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | 2025 fourth_quarter | $400K | 4th Quarter - Report |
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | 2026 first_quarter | $360K | 1st Quarter - Report |
| NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | 2025 fourth_quarter | $350K | 4th Quarter - Report |
| NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | 2026 second_quarter | $340K | 2nd Quarter - Report |
| NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION | 2026 first_quarter | $310K | 1st Quarter - Report |
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | 2025 third_quarter | $290K | 3rd Quarter - Report |
| AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION | 2026 second_quarter | $280K | 2nd Quarter - Report |
| FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | 2026 second_quarter | — | 2nd Quarter - Report |
| FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | 2026 first_quarter | — | 1st Quarter - Report |
| FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | FEDERAL MANAGERS ASSOCIATION | 2025 fourth_quarter | — | 4th Quarter - Report |
Classification
The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 5801 under Government Operations and Politics, one of its 31 policy areas.
CRS Subjects
CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 5801’s is Government Operations and Politics.
hr5801/policy-areas.txtConstitutional authority
The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 5801, as entered in the Congressional Record.
[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 174 (Tuesday, October 21, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota:H.R. 5801.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8[Page H4548]
Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com