Back Pay For Federal Workers: 5 Things To Know In GA

ATLANTA, GA — Federal officials have revealed when workers can expect their back pay, or their "superchecks," which came a day after President Donald Trump signed legislation that officially ended the 43-day standoff in Congress.

Depending on which agency an employee works for, the checks are set to go out within the next one to five days. See specific timing by department below.

The six-week shutdown, which started on Oct. 1 and ended Wednesday, was the longest on record and threatened the livelihood of thousands of federal workers as they were not receiving their paychecks while Congress was closed for business.

The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that about 750,000 federal employees would be furloughed each day during the shutdown, with the total daily cost of their compensation previously estimated at roughly $400 million.

However, throughout the shutdown, at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while about 730,000 others were working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The plight of the federal workers was among several pressure points, along with flight disruptions and cuts to food aid, that in the end ratcheted up the pressure on lawmakers to come to an agreement to fund the government.

At the heart of the shutdown was the debate concerning expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits that Democratic senators said impacts 1.4 million Georgians.

Now that Congress has agreed on a temporary fix, and now that Trump signed House Resolution 5371 into law, the government will be largely funded through Jan. 30. Some agencies will receive funding through September 2026.

What Did Georgia Officials Say On The Matter?

On Monday, the day after the Senate sent largely-approved H.R. 5371 to the House, Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock vowed to protect health care. He, along with fellow Georgia-based Sen. Jon Ossoff, voted "no" on the stopgap measure.

Gov. Brian Kemp condemned Ossoff for his decision. The Republican governor, heading into the final days of his last term, was critical of Warnock and Ossoff during the shutdown.

"@Ossoff voted yet again to keep our troops unpaid, SNAP benefits withheld, and millions of hardworking Americans suffering," Kemp tweeted Monday. "Even when members of his own party chose to do the right thing and reopen the government, Sen. Ossoff did what Schumer told him to. Georgians won’t forget next November!"

During the shutdown, Ossoff maintained hundreds of thousand of workers would lose health care should the ACA credits end in December as scheduled.

How Did The Government Shutdown Impact Federal Workers?

Throughout the shutdown, officials in Trump’s administration repeatedly used the federal workers as leverage to try to push Democrats to relent on their health care demands.

The Republican president signaled that workers going unpaid wouldn’t get back pay. He threatened and then followed through on firings in a federal workforce already reeling from layoffs earlier this year. A court then blocked the shutdown firings, adding to the uncertainty.

The deal that is bringing an end to the shutdown will reverse the dismissals that occurred since Oct. 1, while also ensuring back pay for furloughed federal workers the Trump administration had left in doubt. The bipartisan deal provides funding to reopen the government, including for SNAP food aid and other programs.

In Georgia, local organizations answered the call to assist federal workers in need of aid.

This included the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which provided 26,492 meals for 1,243 workers of the Transportation Security Administration. The food bank also established mobile food pantry giveaways throughout metro Atlanta for those in need.

When Will I Get My "Supercheck?"

White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett on Thursday laid out plans for paying back federal workers, according to a CNBC report. The funds were dubbed "superchecks."

“There really has been an aggressive effort to get people to get their checks as soon as possible,” Hassett told reporters, per the report. “I think that the payments will come, probably early next week."

Payments will be distributed by agency, creating a staggered timeline.

The reported timeline is as follows:

Saturday, Nov. 15

• General Services Administration
• Office of Personnel Management

Sunday, Nov. 16

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

Monday, Nov. 17

• Department of Education
• Department of State
• Department of Interior
• Department of Transportation
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• National Science Foundation
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Social Security Administration

Wednesday, Nov. 19

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

Staff workers for the Senate will receive two missed paychecks, one on Friday and another on Monday, CNBC reported. Employees for the House will reportedly receive their checks either on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Air traffic controllers were set to receive 70 percent of their back pay this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously said, per CNBC. The balance will be paid out next week.

What If I Received Unemployment While Furloughed?

Furloughed workers returned to their post on Thursday, according to the Georgia Department of Labor.

But if they received unemployment during the shutdown, labor officials say that money must be paid back under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 as the benefits would be considered overpayments.

Once back pay is released, labor officials said unemployment benefits must be repaid. They added they plan to mail letters to impacted federal workers who received unemployment. (See what to know about repayment instructions.)

What's Next?

Amid efforts to rebound after the shutdown, NBC on Thursday reported the Federal Aviation Administration has opted to continue cutting flights, currently by 6 percent.

Airports are expected to resume being hit with flight delays and cancellations, CNN reported, potentially causing a nightmare for travelers around the holidays.

"Workers who haven’t received a paycheck in weeks will still have to wait for back pay. Research grants will be delayed. Economic reports are likely to be scrapped. Six weeks of email and voicemails will have to be waded through," CNN wrote.

Layoffs will be reversed and prohibited during the agreement, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

It is not immediately clear what Congress will decide to do once their temporary agreement ends on Jan. 30.

“There’s no back to normal in this deal because all it does it kick the can until January 30,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, in the CNN report. “It’s a little like the federal workforce is going to return to their house after a hurricane and there’s another storm on the horizon.”

The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing.

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