Capitol credit unions see flood of applications during shutdown

Jackie Wang, CQ-Roll Call on Oct 28, 2025

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WASHINGTON — After missing his paycheck, Michael Magby walked into the United States Senate Federal Credit Union’s Hart Building location last week to apply for a relief loan.

Magby, who has spent more than two decades on the Hill and currently works as a floor technician in the Senate office buildings, is one of roughly 700 people as of Friday who have applied for an up to $5,000 loan from the Senate-side credit union since the government shut down.

“Everybody’s in the same boat,” he said. “Everybody’s about to be struggling.”

As the government funding lapse stretches into its fifth week, the credit union anticipates that number will continue to rise, spokesman Arthur Green said. The current shutdown that began Oct. 1 is now the second longest in history, with no clear signs of an end.

“We’ve had to put notices on our website to please make an appointment, and we have one on our website right now: ‘Please be patient with the loan process,’ because we have so many backlogged applications coming in,” he said. “So it’s been crazy.”

The Congressional Federal Credit Union, which was founded to serve House-side employees and their families, has seen its own spike in new member applications. The credit union is offering a $10,000 line of credit available for a 60-day draw period with zero percent interest. After that, monthly payments include 4% interest for the next three years.

While Congressional Federal didn’t share specific numbers on program enrollment, spokesman Brian Holloway said that starting in mid-September, the organization began fielding hundreds of new member applications in anticipation of a government shutdown.

“Once Oct. 1 came, there was another group of individuals that said, ‘OK, let me go ahead and join and be prepared to take advantage,’” he said. “And we’ll probably potentially see another surge of individuals coming in here.”

Both credit unions have expanded their eligibility well beyond Capitol Hill over the years. On the Senate side, for example, the broader public can become eligible to join the credit union by donating $10 to its foundation, and any member who is a government employee with proof of lost pay can apply for the relief loan. (Federal contractors are not eligible.) The loan has zero percent interest in the first 90 days, after which payment is due in full.

The credit union has begun what Green called “phase 2 planning,” or what to do if the government shutdown continues past those 90 days.

The previous partial shutdown spanning the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019 lasted a little over a month, the longest in history, but Green said the credit union didn’t organize contingency plans then. It provided only around 70 relief loans during that shutdown, and staff at the time were hopeful the government would reopen soon, he recalls.

“There was optimism that, oh, this is not going to last very long,” he said. “With this one, there does not seem to be that much optimism. ... I think that’s the reason we’re seeing the change in (application) volume.”

The current funding lapse has left more federal workers unpaid compared with the previous one. Before, Congress had already cleared some of its fiscal 2019 appropriations work before the partial shutdown began, including funding for the legislative branch.

Federal employees have received back pay in the past after shutdowns, and Congress passed a law in 2019 that aimed to guarantee it. Now the White House has floated the idea of not paying furloughed workers despite that law.

Magby is mostly trying to cover his rent and utility bills with the Senate Federal Credit Union loan, he said, but he’s also worried about how much longer his days without pay could last. He has been working a one-week-on, one-week-off schedule since the shutdown began. Previous shutdowns ended before he had to seek supplemental financial assistance from the credit union, he said.

“I guess the Republicans want their way, Democrats want their way,” he said. “But I don’t know. I just need them to come together and do something so I can come back to work.”