HR5708-119

In Committee

Federal Employees Civil Relief Act

119th Congress Introduced Oct 8, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill establishes key definitions for the Act including Federal worker (government employees and contractors), covered period (shutdown plus 30 days), and shutdown (lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes jurisdiction for the Act covering all US territory and states, applies to judicial and administrative proceedings but excludes criminal proceedings and child support, and requires agencies to notify workers, and exempts allows furloughed federal workers to apply to courts for temporary stays, postponements, or suspensions on payments of rent, mortgage, taxes, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil. It relies on compliance mandates, liability protections, exemptions, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Federal Workforce and Finance.

Who Benefits and How

Federal workers with student loans could see lower costs, Federal workers with mortgages could face reduced risk, and Federal workers who rent housing could face reduced risk.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Entities that violate federal worker protections could face increased risk, Residential landlords would take on compliance duties, and Mortgage lenders and servicers would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Establishes key definitions for the Act including Federal worker (government employees and contractors), covered period (shutdown plus 30 days), and shutdown (lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach).
  • Establishes jurisdiction for the Act covering all US territory and states, applies to judicial and administrative proceedings but excludes criminal proceedings and child support, and requires agencies to notify workers...
  • Exempts allows furloughed federal workers to apply to courts for temporary stays, postponements, or suspensions on payments of rent, mortgage, taxes, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil...
  • Prohibits landlords from evicting federal workers during shutdowns without a court order, allows courts to stay eviction proceedings for 30+ days and adjust lease obligations, with criminal penalties up to 1 year...
  • Requires protects federal workers from mortgage foreclosures and property seizures during shutdowns by requiring court orders, allowing courts to stay proceedings or adjust obligations, with criminal penalties...

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill establishes key definitions for the Act including Federal worker (government employees and contractors), covered period (shutdown plus 30 days), and shutdown (lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes jurisdiction for the Act covering all US territory and states, applies to judicial and administrative proceedings but excludes criminal proceedings and child support, and requires agencies to notify workers, and exempts allows furloughed federal workers to apply to courts for temporary stays, postponements, or suspensions on payments of rent, mortgage, taxes, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil.

Key Policy Areas

Federal Workforce, Finance

Primary Purpose

The bill establishes key definitions for the Act including Federal worker (government employees and contractors), covered period (shutdown plus 30 days), and shutdown (lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes jurisdiction for the Act covering all US territory and states, applies to judicial and administrative proceedings but excludes criminal proceedings and child support, and requires agencies to notify workers, and exempts allows furloughed federal workers to apply to courts for temporary stays, postponements, or suspensions on payments of rent, mortgage, taxes, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil.

Policy Domains

Federal Workforce Finance

Federal Worker Protection Act

Identified Gains
  • Federal workers with student loans
  • Federal workers with mortgages
  • Federal workers who rent housing
  • Federal workers using shutdown relief
  • Federal workers facing financial obligations
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Federal workers with mortgages:
Federal workers who rent housing:
Federal workers with student loans:
Federal workers using shutdown relief:
Federal workers facing financial obligations:
Identified Costs
  • Entities that violate federal worker protections
  • Residential landlords
  • Mortgage lenders and servicers
  • Federal student loan servicers
  • Consumer credit reporting agencies
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Residential landlords:
Federal student loan servicers:
Mortgage lenders and servicers:
Consumer credit reporting agencies:
Entities that violate federal worker protections:

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Oct 8, 2025

Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. Randall, Ms. Moore …

Oct 8, 2025

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and …

Oct 8, 2025

Introduced in House

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
13 mentions across 9 clauses
+10 positive -3 negative

Department of Justice, Federal government agencies, Federal government employees

Positive-direction: Federal government employees, Federal workers, Federal workers affected by shutdowns, Federal workers aggrieved by violations, Federal workers facing financial obligations, Federal workers using shutdown relief, Federal workers who rent housing, Federal workers with mortgages, Federal workers with student loans, Government contractors and their employees

Negative-direction: Department of Justice, Federal government agencies, Internal Revenue Service

Financial Services
8 mentions across 5 clauses
-8 negative

Auto lenders, Banks holding residential mortgages, Creditors and lenders

Real Estate
3 mentions across 2 clauses
-3 negative

Landlords and property managers, Property management companies, Residential landlords

Other Services
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Storage and repair businesses

Credit Bureaus
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Consumer credit reporting agencies

All Industries
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Entities that violate federal worker protections

10/13
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Federal Workforce Finance
Actor Mappings
"covered_period"
→ Period from shutdown start to 30 days after shutdown ends
"federal_worker"
→ Employee of a Government agency or contractor
"government_agency"
→ Any authority of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

3 terms
"covered period" §3(d)

The period beginning on the date on which a shutdown begins and ending on the date that is 30 days after the date on which that shutdown ends

"Federal worker" §3(e)

An employee of a Government agency, including an employee of a contractor

"shutdown" §3(g)

Any period in which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations for any Government agency or the debt of the United States exceeds the statutory limit

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology