Government reopens: When will federal employees get paid?

Back pay FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Capitol, pictured during sunset on November 12, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives passed Senate-passed legislation that funds the government through the end of January, reopening the government and ending the 43-day shutdown, the longest in American history. Federal employees are expected to get paid in the coming days. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images) (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk

WASHINGTON — After more than 40 days, the government has reopened and now federal employees will be getting paychecks that they missed during the shutdown.

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But when that pay hits bank accounts will depend on which agency employees work for.

The American Federation of Government Employees, the federal employee union that represents more than 820,000 federal and D.C. workers, said it hopes the salaries are paid sooner rather than later.

“Both the law that established the right of back pay and the new CR instruct the agencies to provide back pay as soon as they possibly can, as soon as it’s practicable, rather than require people to wait till their next regularly scheduled pay day,” policy director Jacqueline Simon told The Hill.

She said that the pay should be disbursed within days, similar to previous shutdowns.

[ House passes bill to end longest US government shutdown; Trump signs measure  ]

The goal is to have all backpay completed by Nov. 19, CBS News reported. The Office of Personnel Management said the payout was expected to be later, but the White House told agencies to get employees paid “expeditiously and accurately to not leave anyone waiting longer than necessary.”

Semafor said that the process depends on each agency, as they process pay independently. Employees may also not get their full back pay.

General Services Administration (GSA) and the OPM are expected to have pay processed on Saturday, Semafor and NewsNation reported. But the payments “will only include base pay” with corrections “made in the next pay cycle,” a memo obtained by Semafor said.

The pay will be for work from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1 for most people and will not include bonuses, overtime or benefits.

Here is the timeline:

Nov. 15 (base bay)

  • GSA
  • OPM

Nov. 16 (base pay, overtime and hazard pay)

  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Department of Energy
  • Health and Human Services

Nov. 17 (base pay only)

  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • NASA
  • National Science Foundation
  • Social Security Administration
  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Department of Education
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of State
  • Department of Transportation

Nov. 19

  • Small Business Administration
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Housing and Urban Development
  • Department of Justice
  • Department of Labor
  • Department of the Treasury

More than 1.4 million federal employees were unpaid over the 43-day shutdown, which ended on Wednesday night, CBS News reported.