{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-alsobrooks-beyer-walkinshaw-over-60-lawmakers-press-administration-to-reinstate-furloughed-federal-workers-at-agencies-unaffected-by-republican-shutdown-resume-their-pay", "Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, Beyer, Walkinshaw, Over 60 Lawmakers Press Administration to Reinstate Furloughed Federal Workers at Agencies Unaffected by Republican Shutdown, Resume Their Pay", "2025-10-24", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MD", "Chris Van Hollen", "V000128", "www.vanhollen.senate.gov", "vanhollen", "https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-Md.) and U.S. Representatives Don Beyer and James Walkinshaw (both D-Va.) were joined by more than 60 of their colleagues in the Senate and House urging the Trump Administration to immediately reinstate any furloughed employees of agencies funded entirely by collected user fees and to resume their paychecks. In their letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, the lawmakers pointed out that fee-funded agencies are unaffected by the lapse in appropriations caused by this Republican-driven shutdown, and that they should continue to deliver services to the American people uninterrupted as they have during past shutdowns. The members stressed that OMB\u2019s directive to temporarily lay off and withhold pay from federal workers whose agencies continue to bring in revenue is unjustified and unnecessarily punitive \u2013 and must be reversed.\n\n\u201cWe are deeply concerned by reports of federal employees whose jobs are fee-funded being furloughed or denied pay while working during the current government shutdown at the direction of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These moves are unprecedented during a government shutdown and have no legal or financial justification. They are clearly designed simply to inflict pain on the federal workforce and to deprive the American people of the services these federal employees provide,\u201d the lawmakers began.\n\nFor example, they took issue with furloughs and withholding of paychecks of employees at the Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Consular Affairs, noting that the Bureau is funded through fees collected for visa and passport processing. \u201cThere is no legal or financial reason to deny compensation to these employees as the money necessary to pay them is still being collected for services that are still being rendered,\u201d they wrote. \u201cPassport Services did not suffer any disruption to its operations or payroll during either of the government shutdowns during President Trump\u2019s first term. The only rationale here seems to be needlessly inflicting maximum pain on federal workers who are serving the American people.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no legal, financial, or historical reason to furlough or withhold pay from any federal employees whose wages do not rely on appropriated funds. These employees are non-partisan Americans who work hard to ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of their fellow Americans day in and day out. As such, we urge the immediate reinstatement of and resumption of pay for all federal employees who do not rely on appropriations for their work or wages,\u201d they continued, going on to list a series of questions for response by Director Vought \u2013 including the number of federal employees who have been furloughed and denied pay, the anticipated impact on the public services that those employees provide, and the legal justification for this directive.\n\nJoining Senators Van Hollen and Alsobrooks and Representatives Beyer and Walkinshaw on the letter are Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.); and Representatives Andr\u00e9 Carson (D-Ind.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), Cleo Fields (D-La.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Nellie Pou (D-N.J.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez (D-N.Y.), Eugene Vindman (D-Va.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).\n\nText of the letter, including the questions that the Senators pose to the Administration officials, can be viewed here and below.\n\nDirector Vought:\n\nWe are deeply concerned by reports of federal employees whose jobs are fee-funded being furloughed or denied pay while working during the current government shutdown at the direction of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These moves are unprecedented during a government shutdown and have no legal or financial justification. They are clearly designed simply to inflict pain on the federal workforce and to deprive the American people of the services these federal employees provide.\n\nThe General Services Administration (GSA) has reportedly furloughed employees working in functions that do not rely on congressional appropriations, like those funded through the Acquisition Service Fund or carryover funds. These employees have typically been exempt from furloughs and been paid during shutdowns. Rather than determining a furlough plan based on availability of funds and job functions, a GSA department was reportedly \u201cgiven a number to hit\u201d for total furloughs.\n\nLikewise, we have learned that employees in the Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) have been furloughed, including employees in Passport Services, at OMB\u2019s direction. However, these CA employees\u2019 wages do not rely on appropriated funds. Instead, the salaries are paid with the fees that are collected to carry out services such as visa and passport adjudication. A lapse in appropriations should have no bearing on these employees\u2019 work status, as they and their operations are fully fee-funded.\n\nWe have also been made aware that those CA employees who have been excepted are continuing to work without pay, despite the availability of funds and past precedent that has allowed fee-funded employees to continue to receive pay during a shutdown. There is no legal or financial reason to deny compensation to these employees as the money necessary to pay them is still being collected for services that are still being rendered.\n\nThe State Department\u2019s own documentation supports these conclusions. On September 29th, 2025, the Department issued lapse guidance, which notes that \u201cConsular operations domestically and abroad will remain operational as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations,\u201d that, as a category 4 entity, CA is \u201cgenerally expected to operate normally,\u201d and that, for these excepted \u201centities, no new obligations should be made except for payroll, to protect life and property, and for reasons essential to national security\u201d [emphasis added].\n\nMoreover, OMB has allowed these entities to continue operations and to pay employees during previous shutdowns. Passport Services did not suffer any disruption to its operations or payroll during either of the government shutdowns during President Trump\u2019s first term. The only rationale here seems to be needlessly inflicting maximum pain on federal workers who are serving the American people.\n\nThere is no legal, financial, or historical reason to furlough or withhold pay from any federal employees whose wages do not rely on appropriated funds. These employees are non-partisan Americans who work hard to ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of their fellow Americans day in and day out. As such, we urge the immediate reinstatement of and resumption of pay for all federal employees who do not rely on appropriations for their work or wages, and we also request urgent answers to the below questions within 7 days:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-alsobrooks-beyer-walkinshaw-over-60-lawmakers-press-administration-to-reinstate-furloughed-federal-workers-at-agencies-unaffected-by-republican-shutdown-resume-their-pay"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3673148825764656, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}