Senate plots permanent end to government shutdowns with bipartisan push

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Sen.Lankford proposes bill to avoid government shutdowns

James Lankford, R-Okla., join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the failed vote to pay federal workers amid the government shutdown as they enter their first week without pay.

TheSenate istaking another step to prevent government shutdowns, this time to stop them from happening altogether.

It’s a move that comes afterSen.John Kennedy, R-La., successfully changed the Senate rules to prevent lawmakers in the upper chamber from being paid during shutdowns — a play designed to ensure that senators feel the same pain as federal workers during future closures.

But Sens.James Lankford, R-Okla., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., are taking things a step further to outright prevent government shutdowns from ever happening again.

SENATE TAKES MAJOR FIRST STEP TO PREVENT FUTURE SHUTDOWNS WITH PAINFUL ACCOUNTABILITY PLAY

Sen. James Lankford walking through the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Sen.James Lankford walks through the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 2026.(Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Lankford has long been pushing hisPrevent Government Shutdowns Act,and was nearly successful in passing it years ago.Now, with momentum still fresh from Kennedy’s rule change, he plans to reintroduce the legislation and fast-track it to a floor vote.

�worthless government shutdown drama and Congress using federal workers and government services as pawns in political standoffs.”

“The Prevent Government Shutdowns Act ends government shutdowns forever with a simple idea: if Congress doesn’t do its job, Congress doesn’t get to go home,” he said.“We shift the pressure off the American people and onto the people they elected.We came within three votes of passing this before, and it is time to finish the job.”

SENATORS AGREE TO GO WITHOUT PAY DURING SHUTDOWNS AFTER HISTORIC CLOSURES LEFT WORKERS UNPAID

In the event of another shutdown, the legislation would automatically trigger a short-term funding extension to keep the government open for 14 days at a time.It would also install strict limits on lawmakers and their staff by preventing them from embarking on taxpayer-funded travel outside of Washington, D.C.

It would also nix congressional delegations overseas and prevent lawmakers from taking a recess, a key point of criticism against both chambers during the43-day and 76-day government shutdownsthat happened during this Congress.

Given the unanimous support for Kennedy’s rule change, there’s optimism that Lankford and Hassan’s bill will have the same result.

REPUBLICANS EYE ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS FOREVER OVER FEARS DEMS WILL DO IT AGAIN

Sen. Maggie Hassan walking at the capitol

Sen.Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., at the U.S.Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov.10, 2025.(Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

�incentivizes Congress to fund the government on time and ensures that there is a plan in place to protect families and our economy if Congress cannot come to an agreement.”

“Government shutdowns are costly, avoidable, and make people in New Hampshire and across the country pay the price for the failures of Congress,” Hassan said.

Lankford’s last attempt to advance the legislation in 2023 narrowly failed, with nearly every Senate Democrat voting against it while nearly every Senate Republican — save for Sen.Rand Paul,R-Ky.— supported it.

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Lawmakers are still dealing with the ripple effects of the latest shutdown, which saw the Department of Homeland Security and its tens of thousands of federal workers go without pay for months.

Republicans are deep into the budget reconciliation process to finish funding immigration operations at the agency and are expected to advance the package from the Senate by week’s end.

S.Senate.