Administration hints furloughed workers may not be paid after shutdown

Source: Washington Post

Agencies are sending messages indicating that workers who are on the job will be paid when the government reopens — with no mention of those on furlough, despite a 2019 law protecting their wages.

The Trump administration is sending notifications to federal staff suggesting that only those who are working during the government shutdown will be paid when it ends, despite a 2019 law that also guarantees pay to furloughed employees.

“Once an appropriation or continuing resolution is enacted, excepted employees are entitled to receive payment,” read one message sent to some portions of the government and obtained by The Washington Post. That sentence — which leaves out furloughed workers — was not included in the first furlough notice issued last month, according to an employee who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The government has been shuttered since Oct. 1, with Democrats and Republicans locked in a stalemate over health care policy. This past weekend, as the shutdown crossed the 30-day mark, officials began sending formal messages to workers updating them on their employment status for the next 30 days, as is required by law.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the administration would negotiate over back pay as part of a potential deal with Democrats to end the shutdown.

“This is something we are very much open to discussing with Democrats as part of the discussions about the continuing resolution to keep the government open,” Leavitt said. “And it’s something that Republicans are talking with Democrats about right now.”

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