Shutdown Day 7: New focus on back pay for furloughed workers

WASHINGTON — The future pay status of federal workers emerged as a top issue on Tuesday, as the shutdown dragged past its seventh day without resolution.

With both sides entrenched in their positions, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) did not schedule a floor vote on a short-term spending bill that has previously failed five times along mostly partisan-lines.

Meanwhile, a memo floated by the White House Office of Management and Budget questioned whether furloughed workers were entitled to back pay under a 2019 law President Donald Trump signed during his first term after a series of shutdowns.

The memo argues that the law makes no automatic guarantee of backpay without congressional action, but lawmakers from both sides of the aisle countered that the intent of the law was to assure workers’ pay would be safe.

Trump, asked by reporters if he supported paying furloughed workers said: "It really depends on who you're talking about."

Congressional Democrats decried the memo, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling reporters: "The law is clear, and we will make sure that law is followed."

House Speaker Mike Johnson said there would be "discussions" surrounding the OMB memo but that he hoped "that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course."

Thune (R-S.D.), urged Democrats to support the funding bill, saying "This week paychecks start getting affected for federal workers."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) continued to call on Republicans to negotiate a deal with Democrats to break the stalemate: "Republicans should understand that they cannot go forward unless we come to a bipartisan agreement to address the health care crisis facing America."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries meanwhile dismissed a proposal for a one-year extension of expiring Obamacare tax credits as a compromise solution to what’s become a main issue in the shutdown. He called it "laughable" that any Democrats would back anything less than a permanent extension — although Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi is leading 11 other House Democrats who’ve joined some Republicans in that push.

 

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.