Make America Govern Again Act

Summary#

This bill, called the Make America Govern Again Act, would change how pay works during a lapse in discretionary appropriations (a shutdown). It would: require the Treasury to provide whatever money is needed to pay most civil service and uniformed service employees during a lapse, with an exception for Cabinet heads and their deputy secretaries; require payroll officials to hold (deposit in escrow) the portion of pay for Members of Congress that corresponds to days a shutdown is in effect and release those funds only after the shutdown ends or the Congress ends; require the Office of Personnel Management to hold the portion of pay for the President and Vice President for shutdown days and release those funds after the shutdown ends or the term ends; prohibit paying certain senior Executive Office of the President employees during a shutdown (positions on the Executive Schedule in sections 5312–5316, noncareer Senior Executive Service appointees, and schedule C confidential or policy-determining employees); and defines a shutdown as a lapse in appropriations for any agency or department caused by failure to enact appropriations or a continuing resolution.

What it means for you#

  • Most federal civil service and uniformed service employees would continue to get paid during funding lapses, except for heads of Executive departments and their deputy secretaries.
  • Members of Congress, the President, and the Vice President would have the portion of their pay corresponding to shutdown days held in escrow and not paid until the shutdown ends (or until the end of the relevant term or Congress, as described).
  • Certain senior staff in the Executive Office of the President would not receive pay during a shutdown.
  • The Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management would have roles helping payroll administrators implement these changes.

Expenses#

The bill directs the Treasury to provide "such sums as are necessary" to pay covered federal employees during lapses in discretionary appropriations. The bill text does not provide any dollar amounts or cost estimates. No publicly available information on total cost or savings is included in the provided materials.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information in the provided bill text or metadata describes proponents' arguments or stated reasons for the bill.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information in the provided bill text or metadata describes opponents' arguments or stated objections to the bill.