How soon could federal workers be paid after the government shutdown ends?

After lawmakers reached a deal to end the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history , hundreds of thousands of government workers who haven't been paid are wondering when their paychecks could finally arrive.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a Senate-passed funding package, which President Trump signed into law, ending the 43-day-long shutdown.

Now that the funding bill has passed and the government is open again, federal workers are entitled to back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019. The law covers both furloughed employees and those required to work without pay, requiring agencies to issue retroactive payments as soon as possible rather than waiting for scheduled pay dates.

When will federal workers get paid?

Some federal employe