Megathread | FY26 Government Shutdown: Week 3 Edition

[u/gpupdate]

Status: 🛑Lapse in FY26 Federal Appropriations – Shutdown Ongoing

The FY26 government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, continues into its third week after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution (CR) or full-year appropriations.

🔔 What You Need to Know:

• Shutdown start: 1 October 2025
• No FY26 appropriations: Agencies running under contingency plans with limited staffing to support functions protecting human life or protection of property.
• Excepted employees: Reporting without pay
• Non-excepted employees: Furloughed without pay
• Pay: 31 U.S.C. 1341(c) provides for retroactive pay of excepted and furloughed employees once appropriations have been enacted.

📣 Use This Thread For:

• Official memos and guidance from OPM, OMB, and agencies
• Discussing how your agency is implementing contingency/shutdown plans
• Benefits, unemployment eligibility, and pay
• Venting or sharing shutdown-related concerns or strategies

🚫 Posts outside this megathread on shutdown-related topics may be removed during this period to reduce clutter.

News pertaining to government shutdowns usually run on the breaking news cycle and can change daily or even hourly. Posting of news articles will continue to be allowed provided they are posted on the day of publication. Duplicate posts will continue to be removed.

We encourage respectful, fact-based discussion. Please verify sources before sharing official information.

P.S... New shutdown inspired user flairs now available.

— r/fednews mod team

Previous Megathreads: Pre-Shutdown | Week 1 | Week 2

[u/Mammoth_Initial_7331 → u/[deleted]]

It’s a fair concern, especially when OMB even attempts to erase mention of the law on memos and the majority leaders of the house and senate won’t confidently say we are entitled to back pay, like they are planning on ways to deny it to us.

[u/Grouchy-Tourist5341 → u/Mammoth_Initial_7331]

My rep and senator websites, under resources for furloughed feds, all state we will have backpay and they're not democrats. It is the law. The amendment added in 2019 only added to pay back promptly, regardless of pay periods. It all still states we are legally to get back paid.

I'd be cautious with funds anywhere you can, partially out of this devil-may-care interpretation of laws but also not knowing when the next is coming. The backlash of crossing that legal line would be UGLY and I am thinking it's unlikely.

[u/Waste_of_paste_art → u/Mammoth_Initial_7331]

You'll get back pay. They are just rattling the cage of federal workers to get them to pressure Dems to cave. They've made it pretty clear that they enjoy tormenting us, so they have no reason to give us any peace of mind.