Armed Forces Pay Act of 2025
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on appropriationA law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
Armed Forces Pay Act of 2025
This bill provides continuing appropriations to pay members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) and intelligence agencies during any period in which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown).
Specifically, the bill provides continuing appropriations for the pay and allowances of (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service or inactive-duty training during the period; and (2) civilian employees of DOD, the Coast Guard, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The appropriations provided by the bill are available until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) September 30, 2026.
The bill also specifies that the funds provided by this bill for intelligence or intelligence-related activities are deemed to be specifically authorized by the Congress during FY2026 until the enactment of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 30, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 30, 2025: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Christopher Coons (D-DE) introduced it on October 30, 2025, and 27 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 27 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 30, 2025, 315 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 315 days ago, on October 30, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers