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One marker to often watch to divine the possible length of any government shutdown is the schedule on which federal workers are scheduled to be paid.
For instance, this potential partial shutdown, covering six areas of the government and addressing 78 percent of all federal spending, is set to begin at 12:00:01 am et on Saturday, January 31.
That’s where there would be a “lapse in appropriations” over the weekend.
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The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
For starters, that technically of a “lapse in appropriations” gives lawmakers some wiggle room to resolve the issue before 9 am et on Monday, February 2, when most federal workers return to the job.
But another important barometer to gauge is when federal workers miss paychecks.
Federal workers were last paid on January 21, one day later than usual because of the Martin Luther King federal holiday.
However, the next batch of checks is due to go out until Monday, February 2. They technically cover the work period which runs through Thursday, February 5. The checks are actually cut on February 2.
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President Donald Trump walks to Marine One for departure from the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
But Fox is told that workers would at least receive a partial paycheck, through work completed on Friday, January 30. That’s the last day that the government was funded. Those checks still go out on February 2.
Any money covering expenditures beginning on January 31 is illegal. It’s a violation of the Antideficiency Act where the executive branch is spending money not appropriated by Congress.
So the weekend gives lawmakers a bit of a breather to figure things out. And the next day to cut checks is Tuesday, February 17. That is one day later than usual because of President’s Day on Monday, February 16.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., briefs the media on the timeline to possibly end the government shutdown in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, Nov. 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In short, Congress and the executive branch have nearly three weeks to solve this before most federal workers would miss an ENTIRE paycheck.
However, there are some anomalies.
The FAA (which includes air traffic controllers but not TSA) are scheduled to be paid on Tuesday, February 3. Fox is told that FAA workers will receive a full paycheck. That’s because the FAA pay period ended on Saturday, February 24. Thus, that work was completed before the shutdown deadline, and Congress appropriated money for that pay. Therefore, payment on February 3 is NOT a violation of the Antideficiency Act. That said, the next FAA pay period ends on February 7 with paychecks due to be sent on February 17. FAA and air traffic controllers would receive a PARTIAL paycheck at that point. That’s because some work was performed before the shutdown. This scenario mirrors what happened during the fall shutdown. Air traffic controllers received a portion of their paycheck because of the staggered pay schedule.
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Lawmakers will watch these calendars closely if this gets to be a drawn-out fight. However, a minimal “partial” shutdown over the weekend gives lawmakers a bit of cushion to come to a resolution.
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