(NEXSTAR) — While some biweekly employees are set to receive their second of three paychecks this month on Friday, many federal employees won’t see a check at all as the government shutdown continues.
On Tuesday, the government shutdown entered its 21st day, the second such shutdown to last three weeks. If the shutdown continues into November, it could approach – and even exceed – the longest duration on record.
Without a deal, a large portion of the 2.4 million federal workers remain without pay. They received their last paycheck on Oct. 10, but that only covered one pay period through Sept. 30, essentially leaving them without four days of pay.
As The Hill reported earlier this month, the workers who received partial paychecks were air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration employees who are essential to keeping the nation’s airports operating.
Some federal workers who otherwise would not be paid during a shutdown also received a reprieve.
That includes service members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who are paid with funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, The Hill previously reported. These soldiers, as well as the rest of the soldiers, were paid last Wednesday. For the latter group of military personnel, the paychecks were distributed using “approximately $8 billion in unobligated research test and evaluation (RDTE) funds from the previous fiscal year,” a Defense Department official told The Hill.
A second payment to the military, if the shutdown continues, appears unlikely, the Associated Press reported last week.
Funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill will also be used to pay “more than 70,000 law enforcement officers” under the Department of Homeland Security, a spokesperson confirmed to Nexstar. This includes Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Secret Service special agents, and TSA air marshals.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said these “super checks” – covering “the 4 lost days, their overtime and their next pay period” – would be distributed by Wednesday.
FBI Director Kash Patel said last week that FBI special agents would also still be paid, although he did not specify where the funds would come from.
Other workers — like air traffic controllers and TSA agents who received partial paychecks — continue to work without pay. Some of those employees chose not to work, leading to staffing shortages at U.S. airports, including some of the nation’s largest cities.
Thousands of additional federal employees have been laid off or furloughed since the shutdown began, the latter including more than three-quarters of the staff at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
The government bill to pay furloughed workers while they are at home is about $400 million a day, according to a CBO estimate provided at the request of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Traditionally, those who remain unpaid during shutdowns receive back pay once the standoff ends. President Trump, however, has threatened to eliminate these guaranteed back pay, despite a law passed during his first term stipulating that federal workers must be paid after a shutdown.
The administration is also trying to lay off thousands of federal employees at agencies that don’t align with its priorities. Republican leaders in Congress said that was part of the consequences of a shutdown. However, past presidents have not used shutdowns to carry out mass layoffs.
The Senate, which failed to pass the continuing resolution passed by the House on Monday, is expected to vote on the stopgap funding bill on Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
