After the two longest government shutdowns in U.S. history – last fall’s 43-day government-wide shutdown that ended Nov. 12 and this spring’s record-breaking 76-day partial shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security that ended April 30 – all federal agencies have finally been funded for the balance of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.
What does this mean for AFGE members and their families? It means that no employee of the executive branch will be furloughed or forced to work without pay for the rest of the fiscal year because of Congress’ failure to fund the government.
With FY26 funding now in place, the House and Senate have turned their attention to the next fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
AFGE’s Legislative Department is following the appropriations process closely, urging Congress to put politics aside and pass spending bills that fund agencies and pay our members.
Under normal circumstances, Congress would devote the spring and summer to methodically passing 12 individual appropriations bills to fund the government’s programs, operations, and employes for fiscal 2027. Unfortunately, Congress’s inability in recent years to agree on appropriations levels for individual agencies likely will result in the same impasse that led to last fall’s governmentwide shutdown.
Complicating matters is the Trump administration’s proposed budget blueprint that, with few exceptions, would make deep and damaging spending cuts to most federal agencies – particularly those focused on public health, social safety net programs, the environment, scientific research, education, and foreign affairs.
While the Republican-led House and Senate appropriations committees are not obligated to act on President Trump’s spending proposals, in practice they have been inclined to advance appropriations bills that reflect his priorities – particularly the House Appropriations Committee. This has resulted in lawmakers advancing legislative proposals that have no chance of passing the full House or Senate because they would make such drastic cuts to popular programs. The pattern is likely to repeat itself this year, with neither chamber passing most of the 12 spending bills before current funding expires.
These funding disputes don’t necessarily mean there will be another governmentwide shutdown on Oct. 1. While anything is possible in the deeply polarized and divided Congress, most indications are that Congress will pass a short-term continuing resolution before Sept. 30 that funds all government agencies past the November midterm elections.
With control of the House and Senate at stake, neither party wants a government shutdown to begin just weeks before Americans head to the polls. Lawmakers up for reelection this year know that voters will blame them if the services they rely on are disrupted because of a shutdown.
Any continuing resolution passed by Congress likely would expire before the end of the calendar year, meaning it will be up to the lame-duck Congress to decide how to fund federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year. The outcome of the November elections will largely dictate what happens.
Meanwhile, AFGE continues to urge Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing that federal employees are paid when there is a lapse in funding. If the past year has taught members of Congress anything, it should be that it is politically and morally indefensible to deprive federal employees of the pay they are owed because of Congress’ failure to pass a budget on time.
The Trump administration is reinstating critical staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This is a key win for AFGE and its allies, who challenged the administration’s unlawful reduction of FEMA’s workforce.
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Noncompetitive pay and benefits are resulting in critical shortages of law enforcement officers across the Department of Veterans Affairs, an AFGE local leader testified before a Senate committee last week.
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With FY26 funding now in place, the House and Senate have turned their attention to the next fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
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