1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Essential Employees Pay Certainty Act . 2. TSP withdrawals for Federal employees excepted from furlough during Government shutdown (a) Withdrawal (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Federal employee excepted from furlough resulting from a lapse in discretionary appropriations occurring on or around December 22, 2018, may, during such lapse, make a withdrawal from the employee’s account within the Thrift Savings Plan, without penalty and without being treated as violating any requirement of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. (2) Amount The amount of a withdrawal under paragraph (1) may not be greater than the total amount of annual salary that the employee would have received for the period beginning on the date the employee would have received pay but for such lapse and ending on the date on which the withdrawal is made. (b) Catch-Up contributions Any employee who makes a withdrawal under subsection (a) may, beginning on the date that the lapse in appropriations with respect to the employing agency ends, make 1 or more contributions in an aggregate amount not to exceed the amount of such withdrawal to the employee’s account within the Thrift Savings Plans. In the case of any such contribution, but only to the extent of the amount thereof, the withdrawal shall be treated in the same manner as having been received in an eligible rollover distribution (as defined in section 402(c)(4) of such Code) and the contribution as having been transferred in a direct trustee to trustee transfer within 60 days of an eligible rollover distribution.