Congress moves on back pay

The House of Representatives voted 407-0 on Saturday to pass a bill to provide back pay to furloughed federal workers once the partial government shutdown is over.

The Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act originated with members on both sides of the aisle whose districts are home to substantial numbers of federal employees. Virginia Democrats Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly and Republicans Frank Wolf, Scott Rigell and Rob Wittman are among the backers, as are Maryland Democrats Steny Hoyer, Chris Van Hollen, Elijah Cummings, Donna Edwards, John Sarbanes, Dutch Ruppersberger and John Delaney.

"I'm actually pleasantly surprised that this moved so rapidly," said Connolly, in an interview with FCW.

The White House indicated that it would back the measure.

"This does not solve the funding problem, but it does provide these federal employees with some peace of mind that they will get paid," Moran said at an Oct. 3 meeting of the House Rules Committee. "These folks didn't bring this about."

But there was no word from the Democratic-led Senate on whether that chamber would consider the measure.

House Republicans are also looking to pass a series of stopgap appropriations for select government programs, including a bill that would allow the Director of National Intelligence broad latitude in calling back furloughed personnel and paying contractors. Other bills support weather monitoring, border protection, nuclear weapons security, school funding, national parks, some federal health programs and Head Start preschool programs. The White House has said it does not support such a "piecemeal" approach.