By Zo Terrana
Staff Writer
Approximately 600,000 laid off federal government workers could be denied back pay from unpaid work after the recent government shutdown ends. The idea, suggested by President Trump, could overstep a 2019 law intended to ensure federal employees are reimbursed after a government shutdown.
According to NPR, Trump supported a drafted White House memo arguing for the denial of workers pay. Speaking in the Oval Office on Oct. 7 Trump stated,
“I can tell you this: The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you're talking about. But for the most part, we're going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of, and we will take care of them in a different way,” he said.
The draft from the Office of Management and Budget was confirmed by a senior White House official who was not authorized to discuss the memo. A political fight between Democrats and Republicans over the extension of healthcare subsidies for millions of Americans has now split over to federal workers pay, furthering the government shutdown.
The legal argument for the White House memo on federal employee pay contradicts the instructions issued by the Office of Personal Management and a 2019 signed bill by Trump during his first term, according to NPR.
The 2019 bill states that “each employee of the United States Government or of a District of Columbia public employer furloughed as a result of a covered lapse in appropriations shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations.”
The 2019 Act titled, “The Government Employee Fair Treatment” was a bipartisan law established after the 2018 government shutdown lasting 35 days, imparted language to the Antideficiency Act that automatically institutes back pay government workers for "any lapse in appropriations that begins on or after December 22, 2018" according to NPR. Congress has previously had to approve retroactive funding after a shutdown with new legislation.
The draft memo, according to NPR, is the latest step in the Republicans “press campaign” to punish Democrats amidst the government shutdown, including efforts to try and cancel grant funding for energy projects. The administration also threatened widespread “reduction-in-force” efforts at federal agencies which have not come to fruition.
As of recently the Senate on Oct. 6 pushed the shutdown to officially one week as Democrats blocked Republicans stopgap funding bill for a fifth time according to the Hill. The Democrats are now insisting the stopgap bill include an extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that are estimated to expire at the end of the year.
Senators voted 52-42 on the House-passed bill, which needed 60 votes to continue to fund the federal government until late November. This vote marks another stalemate between the two political parties. Seasoned lawmakers have met at times to consider a path forward, however Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have not met to discuss the recent government shutdown according to the Hill.
