WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) introduced a substitute amendment to his Shutdown Fairness Act and is seeking unanimous consent from his Senate colleagues to pay all federal employees and servicemembers, including furloughed workers, during a government shutdown.

“Right now, I'd be willing to add furloughed workers because we're going to pay them anyway […] Would you take my bill, add furloughed workers, say it’s a done deal? Is that something you’d accept here today?” Sen. Johnson said to Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) during his floor speech on October 23, 2025.

Sen. Johnson was joined by U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Sen. Johnson's Shutdown Fairness Act has been endorsed by

• The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
• The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)
• National Association of Letter Carriers
• National Association of Retired and Federal Employees
• The Federal Managers Association 
• The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
• The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA)
• The International Association of Fire Fighters
• The Council of Prison Locals 33 (CPL-33)
• The National Treasury Employees Union
• Southwest Airlines Pilots Association 
• Coalition of Airline Pilots Association
• NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots
• Transport Workers Union

Sen. Johnson’s full floor speech can be found here. 

Full text of the amendment can be found here.

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