Federal workers get unemployment during shutdowns—but only if they work unpaid
H.R. 5572 — Help FEDS Act · Filed by Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) · 37 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires states to allow federal employees who work without pay during government shutdowns (called 'excepted employees') to collect unemployment benefits for those weeks. The federal government reimburses states 100% of the benefits paid plus administrative costs from the Unemployment Trust Fund. However, if the federal employee is later paid retroactively for that period, they must repay the unemployment benefits to the state.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a temporary income-support program for federal workers during shutdowns, funded by federal reimbursement to states. It is a targeted social-safety-net measure, not a tax provision, regulatory change, or commemorative act.
What the text implies
- The bill is time-limited to fiscal years 2026–2027, creating a sunset provision that may require reauthorization if shutdowns continue beyond that window.
- Excepted federal employees must repay unemployment benefits if they receive retroactive pay, creating a clawback mechanism that may complicate administration and employee cash flow.
- The bill does not address non-excepted federal employees (those furloughed) or contractors, leaving gaps in shutdown-period income support for other affected workers.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Federal employees who work without pay during shutdowns gain access to unemployment benefits, providing essential income support during a period of government dysfunction. The cost is borne by the federal government (via the Unemployment Trust Fund), not by states or other workers, and the benefit is time-limited to fiscal years 2026–2027.
Who stands to gain
- excepted federal employees (income support during shutdowns)
Named in the bill
Social Security Act § 303, Office of Personnel Management, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Unemployment Trust Fund, Title 31 U.S.C. § 1341(c), excepted federal employees
Where it stands
37 cosponsors: 37 Democrats.
- Sep 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 26, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $0 in lobbying spend. A filing names 32 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Sarah Elfreth, the sponsor, reported $501,064 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Federal Managers Association — $0 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 7, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,402 characters) on Oct 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,580 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 7, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-26.
“Federal workers get unemployment during shutdowns—but only if they work unpaid” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr5572 Report an error
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