II 

Calendar No. 304 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1877 

[Report No. 116–158] 

To establish procedures and consequences in the event of a failure to complete 

regular appropriations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2019 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. BRAUN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 12, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish procedures and consequences in the event of 

a failure to complete regular appropriations. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Shutdown 

5 Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘covered officer or employee’’ 

4 means— 

5 (A) an officer or employee of the Office of 

6 Management and Budget; 

7 (B) an individual serving in a position on 

8 level I of the Executive Schedule under section 

9 5312 of title 5, United States Code; 

10 (C) a Member of Congress; or 

11 (D) an employee of the personal office of 

12 a Member of Congress, a committee of either 

13 House of Congress, or a joint committee of 

14 Congress; 

15 (2) the term ‘‘emergency legislation’’ means leg16 islation— 

17 (A) providing assistance for an area with 

18 respect to which the President has declared a 

19 major disaster under section 401 of the Robert 

20 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As21 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

22 (B) directly addressing a national emer23 gency declared by the President under title II 

24 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 

25 1621 et seq.); or 


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1 (C) that, if not enacted, would be inimical 

2 to the national security of the United States; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘Government shutdown’’ means a 

4 lapse in appropriations for 1 or more Federal agen5 cies or departments as a result of a failure to enact 

6 a regular appropriations bill or continuing resolu7 tion; 

8 (4) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 

9 meaning given that term in section 2106 of title 5, 

10 United States Code; and 

11 (5) the term ‘‘National Capital region’’ has the 

12 meaning given that term in section 8702 of title 40, 

13 United States Code. 

14 SEC. 3. DESIGNATING CERTAIN FEHBP-RELATED SERVICES 

15 AS EXCEPTED SERVICES UNDER THE ANTI16 DEFICIENCY ACT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8905 of title 5, United 

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(i) In the event of a lapse in appropriations, the Di21 rector of the Office of Personnel Management shall des22 ignate any officer or employee who performs services relat23 ing to enrolling individuals in a health benefits plan under 

24 this chapter, or changing the enrollment of an individual 

25 already so enrolled due to a qualifying life event, as an 


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1 excepted employee (as defined in section 1341(c) of title 

2 31).’’. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub4 section (a) shall apply to any lapse in appropriations be5 ginning on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUT7 DOWN. 

8 (a) OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT PERMITTED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 law, rule, or regulation, and subject to paragraph 

11 (3), during any lapse in appropriations beginning on 

12 or after December 22, 2018, any Federal employee 

13 of an agency with respect to which appropriations 

14 have lapsed and who is furloughed or excepted from 

15 furlough and working without pay may, during such 

16 lapse, seek and obtain employment outside the Fed17 eral Government. 

18 (2) PRIOR APPROVAL NOT REQUIRED.—An em19 ployee subject to this subsection may seek and ob20 tain such employment without prior approval from 

21 the employee’s employing agency. 

22 (3) LIMITATIONS.—This subsection shall not be 

23 construed to waive any restrictions or requirement 

24 with respect to conflicts of interest, including section 


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1 208 of title 18, United States Code, or part 2635 of 

2 title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. 

3 (b) BACKPAY.—Any compensation received by an em4 ployee by operation of subsection (a) shall not be taken 

5 into account for purposes of determining the amount of 

6 backpay such employee is entitled to under section 1341(c) 

7 of title 31, United States Code. 

8 SEC. 5. LIMITS ON TRAVEL EXPENDITURES. 

9 (a) LIMITS ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 

10 (1) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), during a Government shutdown no 

12 amounts may be obligated or expended for official 

13 travel by a covered officer or employee. 

14 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

15 (A) RETURN TO DC.—If a covered officer 

16 or employee is away from the seat of Govern17 ment on the date on which a Government shut18 down begins, funds may be obligated and ex19 pended for official travel by the covered officer 

20 or employee to return to the seat of Govern21 ment. 

22 (B) TRAVEL IN NATIONAL CAPITAL RE23 GION.—During a Government shutdown, 

24 amounts may be obligated and expended for of25 ficial travel by a covered officer or employee 


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1 from one location in the National Capital region 

2 to another location in the National Capital re3 gion. 

4 (b) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS.— 

5 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘for ordi8 nary’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in sub9 section (d), for ordinary’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS

12 FOR OFFICIAL TRAVEL DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIA13 TIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), during a Government shutdown (as de16 fined in section 2 of the Government Shutdown Ac17 countability Act), a contribution or donation de18 scribed in subsection (a) may not be obligated or ex19 pended for travel in connection with duties of the in20 dividual as a holder of Federal office. 

21 ‘‘(2) RETURN TO DC.—If the individual is away 

22 from the seat of Government on the date on which 

23 a Government shutdown (as so defined) begins, a 

24 contribution or donation described in subsection (a) 


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1 may be obligated and expended for travel by the in2 dividual to return to the seat of Government.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP4 RESENTATIVES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—During a Government shutdown, 

6 in the Senate and the House of Representatives— 

7 (1) it shall not be in order to move to proceed 

8 to any matter except for— 

9 (A) a measure making appropriations for 

10 the fiscal year during which the Government 

11 shutdown begins; 

12 (B) emergency legislation; or 

13 (C) a motion relating to determining or ob14 taining the presence of a quorum; 

15 (2) it shall not be in order to move to recess or 

16 adjourn for a period of more than 23 hours; and 

17 (3) at noon each day, the Presiding Officer 

18 shall direct the clerk to determine whether a quorum 

19 is present. 

20 (b) WAIVER.—Subsection (a) may only be waived or 

21 suspended upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 

22 Members of the applicable House of Congress, duly chosen 

23 and sworn. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Government 

3 Shutdowns Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 1311. Automatic continuing appropriations 

8 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) On and after the first day of each fiscal 

9 year, if an appropriation Act for such fiscal year with re10 spect to the account for a program, project, or activity has 

11 not been enacted and continuing appropriations are not in 

12 effect with respect to the program, project, or activity, there 

13 are appropriated such sums as may be necessary to con14 tinue, at the rate for operations specified in subparagraph 

15 (B), the program, project, or activity if funds were provided 

16 for the program, project, or activity during the preceding 

17 fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the rate for 

19 operations specified in this subparagraph with respect to 

20 a program, project, or activity is the rate for operations 

21 for the preceding fiscal year for the program, project, or 

22 activity— 

23 ‘‘(I) provided in the corresponding appropria24 tion Act for such preceding fiscal year; 

25 ‘‘(II) if the corresponding appropriation bill for 

26 such preceding fiscal year was not enacted, provided 


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1 in the law providing continuing appropriations for 

2 such preceding fiscal year; or 

3 ‘‘(III) if the corresponding appropriation bill 

4 and a law providing continuing appropriations for 

5 such preceding fiscal year were not enacted, provided 

6 under this section for such preceding fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(ii) For entitlements and other mandatory payments 

8 whose budget authority was provided for the previous fiscal 

9 year in appropriations Acts, under a law other than this 

10 section providing continuing appropriations for such pre11 vious year, or under this section, and for activities under 

12 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, appropriations and 

13 funds made available during a fiscal year under this section 

14 shall be at the rate necessary to maintain program levels 

15 under current law, under the authority and conditions pro16 vided in the applicable appropriations Act. 

17 ‘‘(2) Appropriations and funds made available, and 

18 authority granted, for any fiscal year pursuant to this sec19 tion for a program, project, or activity shall be available 

20 for the period beginning with the first day of any lapse 

21 in appropriations during such fiscal year and ending with 

22 the date on which the applicable regular appropriation bill 

23 for such fiscal year is enacted (whether or not such law pro24 vides appropriations for such program, project, or activity) 


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1 or a law making continuing appropriations for the pro2 gram, project, or activity is enacted, as the case may be. 

3 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding section 251(a)(1) of the Bal4 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

5 (2 U.S.C. 901(a)(1)) and the timetable in section 254(a) 

6 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 904(a)), for any fiscal year for which 

7 appropriations and funds are made available under this 

8 section, the final sequestration report for such fiscal year 

9 pursuant to section 254(f)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

10 904(f)(1)) and any order for such fiscal year pursuant to 

11 section 254(f)(5) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 901(f)(5)) shall be 

12 issued— 

13 ‘‘(A) for the Congressional Budget Office, 10 

14 days after the date on which all regular appropria15 tion Acts for such fiscal year or continuing appro16 priations through the end of such fiscal year have 

17 been enacted; and 

18 ‘‘(B) for the Office of Management and Budget, 

19 15 days after the date on which all regular appro20 priation Acts for such fiscal year or continuing ap21 propriations through the end of such fiscal year have 

22 been enacted. 

23 ‘‘(b) An appropriation or funds made available, or au24 thority granted, for a program, project, or activity for any 

25 fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be subject to the 


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1 terms and conditions imposed with respect to the appro2 priation made or funds made available for the preceding 

3 fiscal year, or authority granted for such program, project, 

4 or activity under current law. 

5 ‘‘(c) Expenditures made for a program, project, or ac6 tivity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be 

7 charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or authoriza8 tion whenever a regular appropriation Act, or a law mak9 ing continuing appropriations until the end of such fiscal 

10 year, for such program, project, or activity is enacted. 

11 ‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to a program, project, 

12 or activity during a fiscal year if any other provision of 

13 law (other than an authorization of appropriations)— 

14 ‘‘(1) makes an appropriation, makes funds avail15 able, or grants authority for such program, project, or 

16 activity to continue for such period; or 

17 ‘‘(2) specifically provides that no appropriation 

18 shall be made, no funds shall be made available, or 

19 no authority shall be granted for such program, 

20 project, or activity to continue for such period.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 

22 chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1311. Automatic continuing appropriations.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TIMELY ENACTMENT OF REGULAR APPROPRIATION 

2 ACTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 (1) the term ‘‘covered officer or employee’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) an officer or employee of the Office of 

7 Management and Budget; 

8 (B) an individual serving in a position on 

9 level I of the Executive Schedule under section 

10 5312 of title 5, United States Code; 

11 (C) a Member of Congress, as defined in sec12 tion 2106 of title 5, United States Code; or 

13 (D) an employee of the personal office of a 

14 Member of Congress, a committee of either House 

15 of Congress, or a joint committee of Congress; 

16 (2) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means any period 

17 on and after the first day of a fiscal year, if all reg18 ular appropriation Acts for such fiscal year have not 

19 been enacted; 

20 (3) the term ‘‘emergency legislation’’ means legis21 lation— 

22 (A) providing assistance for an area with 

23 respect to which the President has declared a 

24 major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. 

25 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist26 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 


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1 (B) directly addressing a national emer2 gency declared by the President under title II of 

3 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621 et 

4 seq.); or 

5 (C) that, if not enacted, would be inimical 

6 to the national security of the United States; 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ has the 

8 meaning given that term in section 2106 of title 5, 

9 United States Code; and 

10 (5) the term ‘‘National Capital Region’’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in section 8702 of title 40, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (b) LIMITS ON TRAVEL EXPENDITURES.— 

14 (1) LIMITS ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 

15 (A) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (B), during a covered period no 

17 amounts may be obligated or expended for offi18 cial travel by a covered officer or employee. 

19 (B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

20 (i) RETURN TO DC.—If a covered offi21 cer or employee is away from the seat of 

22 Government on the date on which a covered 

23 period begins, funds may be obligated and 

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1 turn trip to the seat of Government by the 

2 covered officer or employee. 

3 (ii) TRAVEL IN NATIONAL CAPITAL RE4 GION.—During a covered period, amounts 

5 may be obligated and expended for official 

6 travel by a covered officer or employee from 

7 one location in the National Capital Region 

8 to another location in the National Capital 

9 Region. 

10 (2) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN

11 FUNDS.—Section 313 of the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 

13 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘for or14 dinary’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

15 subsection (d), for ordinary’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR

18 OFFICIAL TRAVEL DURING LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), during a covered period (as defined in sec21 tion 3 of the Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 

22 2019), a contribution or donation described in sub23 section (a) may not be obligated or expended for trav24 el in connection with duties of the individual as a 

25 holder of Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RETURN TO DC.—If the individual is away 

2 from the seat of Government on the date on which a 

3 covered period (as so defined) begins, a contribution 

4 or donation described in subsection (a) may be obli5 gated and expended for travel by the individual to re6 turn to the seat of Government.’’. 

7 (c) PROCEDURES IN THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF

8 REPRESENTATIVES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—During a covered period, in 

10 the Senate and the House of Representatives— 

11 (A) it shall not be in order to move to pro12 ceed to any matter except for— 

13 (i) a measure making appropriations 

14 for the fiscal year during which the covered 

15 period begins; 

16 (ii) emergency legislation; or 

17 (iii) a motion relating to determining 

18 or obtaining the presence of a quorum; 

19 (B) it shall not be in order to move to recess 

20 or adjourn for a period of more than 23 hours; 

21 and 

22 (C) at noon each day, the Presiding Officer 

23 shall direct the clerk to determine whether a 

24 quorum is present. 

25 (2) WAIVER.— 


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1 (A) LIMITATION ON PERIOD.—It shall not 

2 be in order in the Senate or the House of Rep3 resentatives to move to waive any provision of 

4 paragraph (1) for a period that is longer than 

5 7 days. 

6 (B) SUPERMAJORITY VOTE.—A provision of 

7 paragraph (1) may only be waived or suspended 

8 upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 

9 Members of the applicable House of Congress, 

10 duly chosen and sworn. 

11 SEC. 4. PROHIBITING PAYING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IF 

12 AUTOMATIC CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS 

13 ARE IN EFFECT. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘lapse in normal appropriations’’ 

16 means appropriations are in effect for 1 or more Fed17 eral agencies or departments under section 1311 of 

18 title 31, United States Code, as added by this Act (re19 lating to automatic continuing appropriations); 

20 (2) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means an in21 dividual serving in a position covered under subpara22 graph (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a)(1) of the Leg23 islative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 

24 4501(1)); and 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘payroll administrator’’, with re2 spect to a House of Congress, means— 

3 (A) in the case of the House of Representa4 tives, the Chief Administrative Officer of the 

5 House of Representatives, or an employee of the 

6 Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is 

7 designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to 

8 carry out this section; and 

9 (B) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary 

10 of the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the 

11 Secretary of the Senate who is designated by the 

12 Secretary to carry out this section. 

13 (b) PROHIBITION.— 

14 (1) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.—If on any 

15 day during a pay period a lapse in normal appro16 priations is in effect, the payroll administrator of 

17 each House of Congress shall— 

18 (A) deposit in an escrow account and ex19 clude from the payments otherwise required to be 

20 made with respect to that pay period for the 

21 compensation of each Member of Congress who 

22 serves in that House of Congress an amount 

23 equal to the product of— 

24 (i) the daily rate of pay of the Member 

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1 islative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 

2 U.S.C. 4501); and 

3 (ii) the number of 24-hour periods dur4 ing the pay period during which the lapse 

5 in normal appropriations is in effect; and 

6 (B) release amounts deposited in an escrow 

7 account under subparagraph (A) to such Member 

8 of Congress only upon the expiration of the pe9 riod described in paragraph (2). 

10 (2) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period described 

11 in this paragraph is the period that— 

12 (A) begins on the first day on which the ap13 plicable lapse in normal appropriations is in ef14 fect; and 

15 (B) ends on the earlier of— 

16 (i) the date on which the applicable 

17 lapse in normal appropriations is no longer 

18 in effect; or 

19 (ii) the last day of the Congress during 

20 which the applicable lapse in normal ap21 propriations began. 

22 (3) WITHHOLDING AND REMITTANCE OF

23 AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 

24 payroll administrator of each House of Congress shall 

25 provide for the same withholding and remittance with 


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1 respect to a payment deposited in an escrow account 

2 under paragraph (1) that would apply to the pay3 ment if the payment were not subject to paragraph 

4 (1). 

5 (c) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—The 

6 Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the payroll admin7 istrator of each House of Congress with such assistance as 

8 may be necessary to enable the payroll administrator to 

9 carry out this section. 


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Calendar No. 304 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1877 

[Report No. 116–158] 

A BILL 

To establish procedures and consequences in the 

tions. event of a failure to complete regular appropriaNOVEMBER 12, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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