The Trump administration signaled on Tuesday that federal workers may not receive back pay if the government remains shut down, upending a long-standing practice for roughly 750,000 employees, according to a White House memo.
The guidance reverses a 2019 policy enacted after the longest federal shutdown in history, which guaranteed retroactive pay for furloughed workers. The new memo from the Office of Management and Budget states that back pay must come from Congress, if lawmakers include it in any funding bill.
The move was widely interpreted as a pressure tactic aimed at forcing lawmakers to end the shutdown, now in its seventh day.
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“There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said during a White House event.
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He added that back pay “depends on who we’re talking about.” When asked a second time about retroactive pay for furloughed workers under existing law, Trump said, “I follow the law, and what the law says is correct.”
Refusing back pay, even for essential employees who must remain on duty, would mark a stark break from precedent and is expected to face legal challenges. Historically, federal workers and military personnel may miss paychecks during shutdowns but are reimbursed once funding is restored.
“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. Johnson, a lawyer, acknowledged he had not fully reviewed the memo but noted that “there are some legal analysts who are saying” repayment may not be required.
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington criticized the administration’s position, calling it illegal and intimidation.
“Another baseless attempt to try and scare & intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards,” Murray said. “The letter of the law is as plain as can be — federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backpay following a shutdown.”
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, expressed confidence that workers would eventually be paid, stating, “My assumption is that the furloughed workers will get paid.”
The memo, prepared for OMB Director Russ Vought by general counsel Mark R. Paoletta and first reported by Axios, lays out a legal argument against automatic back pay. While the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act stipulates that workers shall be paid after a shutdown, the memo contends the law is not self-executing. Instead, repayment must be included in future legislation, presumably in a funding bill.
According to OMB, the 2019 act authorized payment but did not appropriate the funds, leaving Congress to decide whether workers receive back pay.
Currently, Congress remains deadlocked. Democrats are pushing for health care funds to prevent federal subsidies from lapsing, which could spike insurance costs, while Republicans maintain the issue can be addressed later.
