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The administration under President Donald Trump has issued a warning about the lack of a guarantee for back pay to federal workers during a government shutdown. This goes against the usual policy for approximately 750,000 employees who are put on hold, according to a memo from the White House.
During his first term, Trump enacted a law following the longest government shutdown in 2019 that mandated back pay for federal employees during any government funding gaps.
However, the current memo from the Office of Management and Budget indicates that Congress must decide to provide back pay through legislation if they wish to continue this practice.
This maneuver by the Republican-led administration is largely perceived as a tactic to pressure lawmakers to end the government shutdown, which has now reached its seventh day.
“There are some individuals who shouldn’t be taken care of in the same manner, and we’ll address their needs differently,” Trump remarked during a White House event.
He said back pay “depends on who we’re talking about”.
When questioned again about the back pay for furloughed workers, given that the law requires it, Trump stated, “I adhere to the law, and what the law specifies is correct.”
Refusing retrospective pay to the workers, some of whom must remain on the job as essential employees, would be a stark departure from norms and practices and almost certainly would be met with legal action.
While federal workers, as well as service members of the military, have often missed paychecks during past shutdowns, they are almost always reimbursed once the government reopens.
“That should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference at the Capitol.
Johnson, a lawyer, said he hadn’t fully read the memo but “there are some legal analysts who are saying” that it may not be necessary or appropriate to repay the federal workers.
But Democratic Senator Patty Murray blasted the Trump administration as defying the law.
“Another baseless attempt to try and scare and intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards,” Murray said.
“The letter of the law is as plain as can be â federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backpay following a shutdown.”
And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, said, “My assumption is that the furloughed workers will get paid.”
In the memo draft prepared for Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russ Vought, first reported by Axios, the office’s general counsel Mark R. Paoletta lays out a legal rationale for no back pay for federal workers.
The memo explains that while the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 says workers shall be paid after federal funding is restored, it argues the action is not self-executing.
Instead, the memo says, repaying the federal workers would have to be part of subsequent legislation, presumably in the bill to reopen the government.
The OMB analysis draws on language familiar to budget experts by suggesting that the 2019 bill created an authorisation to pay the federal workers but not the actual appropriation.
Congress, it says, is able to decide whether it wants to pay the workers or not.
For now, Congress remains at a standstill, with neither side â nor the White House â appearing willing to budge.
Democrats are fighting for health care funds to prevent a lapse in federal subsidies that threaten to send insurance rates skyrocketing. Republicans say the issue can be dealt with later.
