Pay Federal Workers and Servicemembers Act

Subchapter I of chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

With respect to any lapse in appropriations beginning on or after March 14, 2025, each covered employee shall be, solely for the purpose of determining eligibility for unemployment compensation under this subchapter or subchapter II (as the case may be), deemed for the duration of the lapse in appropriations to be—

(1) totally separated from Federal service; and

(2) eligible for unemployment compensation benefits under the applicable subchapter with no waiting period for such eligibility to accrue.

In this section, the term covered employee means any of the following Federal personnel who are excepted from furlough and are not being paid due to a lapse in appropriations:

(1) Any member of the Armed Forces or the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(2) Any Federal civilian employee who is an excepted employee or an employee performing emergency work, as such terms are defined by the Office of Personnel Management.

The table of sections for such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the following:

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after March 14, 2025.