The December 11 Deadline: Back Pay, Shutdown RIF Rules and the 2027 Pay Freeze

Bottom line

The government is funded through December 11, 2026, and Congress comes back next week to decide what follows ^{[1, 2, 10]}. Two things have changed since the stopgap passed: OMB and OPM have formally withdrawn the 2025 documents that let agencies run layoffs during a lapse ^[3], and the midterm results have reshaped the negotiation over the 2027 pay freeze ^{[10, 11]}. The back pay question for furloughed employees remains less settled than the statute suggests ^{[5, 6]}.

What happened

The deadline. The President signed H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, on September 2 ^[2]. It became P.L. 119-103. Division A funds agencies at FY2026 rates through December 11, a span of 72 days, and a funding gap would begin December 12 ^[1]. Section 112 lets agencies spend at the rate needed to avoid furloughs, but only after they have cut or deferred non-personnel administrative costs ^[1]. The CRS overview identifies no general civilian pay raise in the measure ^[1].

The RIF documents. On October 23, OMB Director Russell Vought and OPM Director Scott Kupor issued memorandum M-27-01 ^[3]. It addresses three 2025 documents: an OMB email of September 24, 2025 that told agencies to consider RIF notices in a lapse, and OPM’s September 2025 furlough guidance and special instructions, which said agencies could treat RIF administration as excepted work. All three, it states, have been “rescinded in full and are no longer operative” ^[3]. The memo cites the settlement in AFGE et al. v. OMB et al., No. 3:25-cv-08302 ^[3].

That settlement required agencies, within 30 days, to strip from their operative shutdown contingency plans any language providing for RIFs during a lapse or authorizing RIF work as an excepted activity, unless a statute expressly authorizes it ^[4]. For OPM, the operative plan includes its Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs ^[4]. Agencies may add such language back, but a change takes effect only 30 days after they notify the unions and publish it ^[4]. One limit deserves attention. In the agreement’s words, “This paragraph shall continue to apply only to contingency plans operative through December 31, 2026” ^[4].

Back pay. The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 amended 31 U.S.C. 1341. The statute says furloughed employees “shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations,” and excepted employees are paid for their work, as soon as possible after the lapse ends ^[6]. OPM’s January 2026 guidance takes a different line. For excepted employees, it says pay follows once a new appropriation or continuing resolution is signed ^[5]. For furloughed employees, it says: “Congress will determine via legislation whether furloughed employees receive pay for furlough periods” ^[5]. Government Executive reported in February that OMB and OPM had removed references to automatic back pay from their guidance, and that the funding law ending a four-day partial shutdown restated that agencies “shall” pay employees as the 2019 act provides ^[7]. That restatement applied to the FY2026 measure ^[7]. The CRS overview of the current stopgap lists no comparable provision ^[1].

Pay. The President’s August 26 alternative pay plan provides that “base pay and locality pay for civilian Federal employees will not change from the 2026 rates” ^[8]. OPM is to give law enforcement personnel a separate 3.8 percent increase ^[8]. Federal Workforce Caucus Democrats said in September they would try to attach a raise to FY2027 spending legislation in the lame duck session ^[9]. Unions are asking for at least 3.8 percent ^{[9, 11]}.

The politics. Government Executive reported on November 4 that Democrats were projected to win majorities in both chambers, taking control in January ^[10]. Union leaders want the pay freeze and the collective bargaining executive orders addressed in the lame duck, before then; one said unions are pushing to fix pay in an appropriations bill or continuing resolution ^{[10, 11]}.

What it means for you

Employees at agencies running on the stopgap. If a lapse starts December 12, your agency’s contingency plan, as amended under the settlement, should not authorize RIF work during the lapse ^[4]. Readers should note that M-27-01 confirms the old documents are gone but does not itself bar new RIF guidance; the settlement’s 30-day notice requirement is the constraint, and only through December 31 ^{[3, 4]}. A lapse that began December 12 and ran into January would outlast that term. The agreement is silent on what governs afterward.

Furloughed employees. The statute and OPM’s guidance point in different directions ^{[5, 6]}. The guidance is an agency reading, not a change to the law.

Excepted employees. Expect to work without a paycheck until the lapse ends. Premium pay earned during the lapse is paid afterward ^[5].

Everyone, on pay. Absent legislation, the 2027 freeze stands ^{[8, 9]}. In 2019, Congress overrode a freeze with a retroactive raise, and a NARFE official told Federal News Network a similar outcome is possible if a deal arrives in early 2027 ^[9].

Contractors. Nothing in the back pay statute reaches contractor staff ^[6]. Under the standard FAR clause, a contracting officer may order work stopped for up to 90 days, and the contractor can seek an equitable adjustment in schedule or price, asserted within 30 days after the stoppage ends ^[12]. An adjustment compensates the firm; it does not guarantee wages for idled employees. Contractors should read their own contract clauses now, not on December 11.

Questions you’re probably asking

When exactly does the money run out?

The stopgap funds agencies through December 11, 2026. A funding gap would begin December 12 unless Congress passes and the President signs another measure ^{[1, 2]}.

If I am furloughed, will I get back pay?

The statute says furloughed employees ‘shall be paid for the period of the lapse’ once it ends ^[6]. OPM’s current guidance instead says Congress will decide by legislation ^[5]. Watch whether the next funding bill restates the guarantee ^[7].

If I am excepted and keep working, when am I paid?

After Congress passes and the President signs a new appropriation or continuing resolution, according to OPM’s guidance. Premium pay earned during the lapse is also paid then ^[5].

Can my agency send RIF notices during a lapse?

The 2025 OMB and OPM documents that authorized RIF work during a lapse have been rescinded ^[3]. Under the settlement, agencies must give unions 30 days’ notice and publish any change before RIF language returns to a contingency plan, a term that runs through December 31, 2026 ^[4].

Is the 2027 pay freeze final?

Not yet. The President’s plan holds base and locality pay at 2026 rates ^[8]. Congress can set a different raise, most likely through appropriations legislation ^[9].

I am a contractor. What protects me?

Back pay protections in the statute cover federal employees, not contractor staff ^[6]. A contracting officer may order work stopped for up to 90 days, and the contractor may seek an equitable adjustment for added cost or time ^[12].

What I’m watching

• Week of November 9: whether appropriators file a second stopgap or an omnibus, and whether it carries a pay raise rider or back pay language ^{[9, 10]}.
• December 11: the funding deadline itself ^[1].
• December 31: the end of the settlement’s contingency-plan protections, and any 30-day union notice of changed shutdown plans before then ^[4].