Policies vary based on individual states, but most states won’t allow unemployment beneficiaries to simply cancel their claims if the shutdown ends and their claim was uphold and benefits were issued.
Whenever the partial government shutdown ends, federal employees will be required to repay unemployment benefits they received whenever they get back pay for the time spent during the lapse in appropriations.
This scenario is highly likely. Congress has, in fact, passed legislation that grants employees retroactive pay for the time they spent on furlough during past government shutdowns, and lawmakers will likely clear similar legislation again. The Senate has already passed such legislation for this current partial shutdown, but the House has yet to act.
“The state [unemployment insurance] agency determines whether or not an overpayment exists and, generally, the recovery of the overpayment is a matter for state action under its law,” OPM guidance reads. “However, some state UI laws require the employer to recover such overpayment.”