To prohibit the removal of Federal employees during any lapse in discretionary appropriations, and for other purposes.

This bill prohibits the removal of federal employees from the civil service during a government shutdown due to a lapse in discretionary appropriations. If an employee is removed from the civil service in violation of this bill, the employee may elect to be reinstated with back pay on the date on which the lapse in appropriations ends. 

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5599 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5599

   To prohibit the removal of Federal employees during any lapse in 
         discretionary appropriations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2025

Mr. Olszewski (for himself, Ms. Pettersen, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Carson, Mr. 
Cisneros, Ms. Craig, Ms. Elfreth, Ms. Friedman, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of 
   Texas, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. 
     Mfume, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Norton, Ms. Randall, Ms. Salinas, Ms. 
 Stansbury, Mr. Walkinshaw, Mr. Whitesides, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Cleaver, 
  Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
 Lieu, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. 
Ruiz, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Torres of California, Ms. Pingree, Mr. 
    Kennedy of New York, Ms. Dexter, Ms. Scholten, and Ms. Dean of 
Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the removal of Federal employees during any lapse in 
         discretionary appropriations, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LIMITATION ON REMOVING FEDERAL EMPLOYEES DURING GOVERNMENT 
              SHUTDOWN.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
            (1) during a Government shutdown due to a lapse in 
        discretionary appropriations with respect to a Federal agency, 
        no employee of such agency may be removed from the civil 
        service; and
            (2) if any employee is so removed in violation of paragraph 
        (1), on the date on which such lapse ends such employee may 
        elect to be reinstated with back pay in accordance with section 
        5596 of title 5, United States Code.
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