WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate pushing for passage of the True Shutdown Fairness Act, legislation he introduced alongside Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-MD), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and a number of colleagues to pay all federal employees – both those excepted and furloughed – as well as service members and federal contractors during the current Republican-led shutdown and would also prevent the Trump administration’s attempts at mass firings (Reductions in Force or RIFs) while the government is shut down.
The legislation is endorsed by American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Partnership for Public Service, and The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
“This is a deliberate choice to hold hostage and jam through an agenda that is, at the end of the day, going to drive up costs for Americans. Instead of working with us and keeping premiums affordable, they’re using these federal workers – and I have a ton of them in Virginia – as political pawns,” Sen. Warner said on the floor. “It’s cruel and it’s not going to work. That’s why I’m proud to join both the Ranking Member, Peters, who will be here, I believe, shortly, and my good friend from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen, on legislation to ensure that Trump not pick and choose who we want to pay but legislation to ensure that all federal workers and the contractors who work side by side with them get paid during this shutdown. At the end of the day, this is a moment for every senator to decide – are you going to stand with the federal workers who keep the government running, or are you going to stand with those who want to traumatize them and make them all be viewed as villains?”
Republicans blocked the legislation from even getting a vote.
Now on day 23, Sen. Warner has introduced several measures to support federal employees and contractors who have been furloughed or working without pay due to the Republican shutdown. The Help Federal Employees During Shutdowns (Help FEDS) Act would ensure federal employees who are required to work during a government shutdown are eligible to apply for unemployment insurance (UI), while the Emergency Relief for Federal Workers Act would allow federal employees to withdraw funds from their TSP without being penalized. The Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions Act would require federal financial industry regulators to issue guidance encouraging financial institutions to work with federal employees and small businesses impacted by a government shutdown – including offering flexible financial arrangements to prevent them from facing additional financial hardship brought on by penalties for late payments, overdraft fees, and credit damage. The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act would protect federal workers, federal contractor employees, and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown. The Fair Pay for Federal Contractors Act would ensure federal contract workers, including low-wage service workers providing security, food and janitorial services, receive back pay for the wages and benefits lost due to a lapse in appropriations. The Emergency Relief for Federal Contractors Act would allow federal contractors currently working without pay to withdraw funds from their retirement savings without being penalized.
Sen. Warner’s full remarks as prepared are below:
Mr./Madam President: our nation’s public servants are not political pawns.
The so-called Shutdown Fairness Act is anything but fair. And frankly, this entire year has been anything but fair for the federal employees who show up every single day to serve the American people.
Before Russ Vought even set foot in the Office of Management and Budget, he bragged that he wanted federal workers to “increasingly be viewed as villains” and to “put them in trauma.”
Think about that for a moment. That wasn’t a slip of the tongue. It was a mission statement.
And unfortunately, that’s exactly what we’ve seen from Mr. Vought, from President Trump, and from those enabling them.
In just nine months, they’ve fired, forced out, or driven into early retirement more than 148,000 federal employees. That’s not efficiency or reform – it’s an assault on the very people who make sure our government is working for the American people.
Let’s be clear: Democrats have not just cherry-picked a few favorite programs to protect. We have been consistent in calling out this Administration’s reckless disregard for the vital services the American people rely on to keep them safe and secure, and standing up for the people who deliver those services.
So forgive me, M. President, when I say this Shutdown Fairness Act has nothing to do with fairness.
Once again, federal employees are being treated not as partners in serving the American people, but as punching bags for Vought and Trump’s political agenda.
Right now, the president is trying to RIF another four thousand federal workers, not just unfairly, but illegally, which is exactly why the courts have stepped in to stop him.
Many of us were at OMB headquarters last week, demanding that Mr. Vought and his team listen – not to us, but to the federal workers whose jobs and work they’re targeting, all as leverage to “win” a shutdown:
We’re talking about special education programs that support kids with disabilities.
We’re talking about CDC experts who track outbreaks and keep us safe.
We’re talking about the CDFI Fund at Treasury – a program with broad bipartisan support that helps invest in underserved communities.
Let’s be crystal clear: this is not some accident. This is a deliberate choice.
A deliberate effort to hold federal workers hostage in order to jam through an agenda that will drive up health care costs for millions of families.
Instead of working to keep premiums affordable, they’re using public servants as pawns.
It’s wrong. It’s cruel. And it’s not going to work.
That’s why I’m proud to join Ranking Member Peters and Senator Van Hollen on legislation to ensure that ALL federal workers… and the contractors who work side-by-side with them, performing mission critical work… get paid during this shutdown.
This is a moment for every senator to decide: are you going to stand with the federal workers who keep our government running… or with those who want to tear it down?
This is our chance to make sure those workers can feed their families and pay their mortgages while this Republican shutdown drags on. This is every senator’s chance to prove they see federal workers not as political pawns in some political game, but as valued partners in serving the American people.
I urge my colleagues: let’s do the right thing. Let’s get this done, together.