Senators OK Shutdown Pay for Federal Workers

The Senate has approved legislation to make sure federal workers get paid for the three-day government shutdown.

The unanimous voice vote sends the measure to the House, where approval is expected.

Under the law, workers aren't paid when there's a lapse in funding for the government — even if they're deemed essential and have to show up to work.

Monday's measure would fix that and make sure every federal worker would be paid during the shutdown that began Saturday.

The measure would also add retroactive pay language to a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government that passed the Senate Monday. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation as soon as he receives it.