To suspend the enforcement of certain civil liabilities of Federal employees and contractors during a lapse in appropriations, or during a breach of the statutory debt limit, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill defines key terms including "covered period" (shutdown plus 30 days after), "Federal worker" (government employees and contractors), and "shutdown" (24+ hour lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes that the Act applies to all US territory and judicial/administrative proceedings (except criminal and child support). Requires agency heads to notify federal workers of benefits at hiring and when shutdowns, and creates allows furloughed federal workers or those required to work without pay to apply to court for temporary stays on rent, mortgage, tax, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil. It relies on liability protections, compliance mandates, exemptions, and definition changes. The main policy areas are Finance, Labor, and Transportation.
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 could face reduced risk.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Residential landlords would take on compliance duties, Mortgage lenders and servicers would take on compliance duties, and Consumer reporting agencies would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Defines key terms including "covered period" (shutdown plus 30 days after), "Federal worker" (government employees and contractors), and "shutdown" (24+ hour lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach).
- Establishes that the Act applies to all US territory and judicial/administrative proceedings (except criminal and child support). Requires agency heads to notify federal workers of benefits at hiring and when shutdowns...
- Creates allows furloughed federal workers or those required to work without pay to apply to court for temporary stays on rent, mortgage, tax, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil...
- Prohibits landlords from evicting federal workers during shutdowns without court order.
- Requires court approval for foreclosure actions against federal workers during covered period.
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 defines key terms including "covered period" (shutdown plus 30 days after), "Federal worker" (government employees and contractors), and "shutdown" (24+ hour lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes that the Act applies to all US territory and judicial/administrative proceedings (except criminal and child support). Requires agency heads to notify federal workers of benefits at hiring and when shutdowns, and creates allows furloughed federal workers or those required to work without pay to apply to court for temporary stays on rent, mortgage, tax, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil.
Key Policy Areas
Finance, Labor, Transportation
Primary Purpose
The bill defines key terms including "covered period" (shutdown plus 30 days after), "Federal worker" (government employees and contractors), and "shutdown" (24+ hour lapse in appropriations or debt limit breach), establishes that the Act applies to all US territory and judicial/administrative proceedings (except criminal and child support). Requires agency heads to notify federal workers of benefits at hiring and when shutdowns, and creates allows furloughed federal workers or those required to work without pay to apply to court for temporary stays on rent, mortgage, tax, fines, penalties, insurance premiums, student loans, and other civil.
Policy Domains
Whole Bill - Federal Employees Civil Relief Act
Identified Gains
- Federal workers with student loans
- Federal workers with mortgages
- Federal workers who rent
- Federal workers and their dependents
- Furloughed federal workers
Identified Costs
- Residential landlords
- Mortgage lenders and servicers
- Consumer reporting agencies
- Violators of the Act (landlords, lenders, etc.)
- Private student loan lenders
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Padilla, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Auto lenders and finance companies, Consumer reporting agencies, Creditors and lenders
Federal agency heads, Federal government employees, Federal workers
Positive-direction: Federal government employees, Federal workers, Federal workers aggrieved by violations, Federal workers who rent, Federal workers with mortgages, Federal workers with student loans, Federal workers with tax obligations, Furloughed federal workers
Negative-direction: Federal agency heads, Internal Revenue Service
Landlords and mortgage lenders, Residential landlords
Government contractors and their employees
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "government_agency"
- → Executive, legislative, or judicial branch authorities
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The period beginning on the date a shutdown begins and ending 30 days after the shutdown ends
An employee of a Government agency, including employees of contractors
Any period with more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations for any Government agency due to failure to enact appropriations, or when US debt 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