Will federal employees get paid if the debt ceiling isn’t raised?

If the US government fails to raise the debt ceiling by June then there will be a government shutdown. Shutdowns happen because Congress is the only body responsible for the allocation of government funding. This means if Congress cannot pass a budget, the president does not have the power to unilaterally decide on funding.

There have been a total of ten government shutdowns in US history, ranging from just four hours to 35 days. The first was in 1980, when the Federal Trade Commission had to be shut down for a day after Congress failed to pass a bill for the agency.

A consequence of the shutdown would be the stopping or slowing of federal pay and programs.

Will federal employees get paid if the debt ceiling isn’t raised?

There is a risk that government employees will not be paid as the government decides what its spending priorities are. Pay could be delayed until the limit is lifted, in the same was social security payments are likely to be delayed.

“In the ongoing political negotiations the specific threat to feds is not the first item on anybody’s agenda,” says political scientist Don Kettl, professor emeritus and former dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. “But these effects on public servants really should be considered. Do you believe in the security of your job? Do you sense some uncertainty in counting on timely pay?”

Although they may experience a temporary delay in receiving their salaries, federal employees have historically received back pay for the period during which they were furloughed.

In previous government shutdowns, some federal employees were furloughed, which means they were placed on unpaid leave until the shutdown ended.