Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) released the following statement after joining with Congressman Anthony Brown (MD-04) to introduce legislation to guarantee every federal employee can access unemployment benefits while President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell keep the government shut down. The Department of Labor has issued guidance that essential workers are not eligible for unemployment benefits even though they are being required to work without pay. This legislation would reverse that regulation and extend much needed relief.

“As the shutdown enters its 34th day, the hardship that federal workers and their families face only continues to grow. I am alarmed by the President’s willingness to use the threat of a shutdown as a bargaining tool, and the suffering of federal workers as leverage. It is unconscionable, and a practice that must end.” said Rep. Trahan. “So long as federal workers remain in this difficult position, I feel strongly that Congress must continue to do what we can to help and provide for them. Furloughed employees and employees being forced to work without pay deserve access to unemployment benefits. Their current situation is no fault of their own.”

The Trump administration recently announced that nearly 50,000 additional federal employees - including tens of thousands at the Internal Revenue Service - were designated as essential and were being brought back to work without pay. Many employees at the IRS processing center in Andover are residents of the Third Congressional District of Massachusetts. These recalled workers will join the 420,000 federal employees that have already been classified as essential and have worked for more than a month without compensation.  

A number of states have decided to unilaterally extend unemployment benefits for essential workers, including California, Colorado, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Michigan, New York, Virginia, Washington and other localities have urged the Trump administration to clarify federal workers’ eligibility for unemployment benefits.

The bill is also cosponsored by the following Members: Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08), Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02) Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At-Large), Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Congressman David Trone (MD-06), Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (VA-10).

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