WASHINGTON — A draft White House memo argues it is the belief of the Trump administration that furloughed federal workers are not entitled to back pay once the government shutdown ends.
The memo, first reported by Axios and later confirmed to FWRD AXIS News by a senior White House official, contradicts the Office of Personnel Management’s guidance from September, which stated that all federal workers will receive their owed pay once the shutdown ends.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, President Donald Trump appeared to agree with the memo.
“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said. “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.”
The memo would violate the 2019 law that requires back pay for federal workers.
“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 law says.
When pressed by reporters on the legality of a potential move, Trump claimed he would follow the law.
“What the law says is correct, and I follow the law,” he said.
The law, called the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, says all federal employees, whether furloughed or deemed essential and working without pay, must receive back pay after a shutdown ends.
The development comes as Republicans are continuing a pressure campaign on Democrats, attempting to punish them by canceling grant funding for energy projects and pause transportation funding in states that did not vote for Trump in 2024.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) called the tactics “lawless.”
“They’re plotting to try and rob furloughed federal workers of back pay at the end of this shutdown,” Murray said in remarks on the Senate floor. “This flies in the face of the plain text of the law, which could not be more clear.”
