As the ongoing government shutdown cripples America, a White House memo, on Tuesday, hinted that the furloughed federal workers might not get paid once the government reopens. This is a total contradiction to a 2019 law signed by US President Donald Trump.
Per the law, the furloughed workers “shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations.” However, an anonymous White House official has claimed that confusion persists currently. “Does this law cover all these furloughed employees automatically? The conventional wisdom is: Yes, it does. Our view is: No, it doesn’t, the White House official was quoted as saying by Axios.
🚨BREAKING: According to White House memo, furloughed federal workers are not entitled to back pay, per Axios. pic.twitter.com/Oml6UJyAG2
— Morse News (@MorseNewsTV) October 7, 2025
In addition to the previous threats made by the Trump administration, the latest one is to ensure that they make the government shutdown politically damaging for the Democrats. Earlier, they warned against firing federal workers instead of putting them on furlough.
The US President, on Tuesday, was asked if furloughed workers should receive back pay. In his typically-Trump style response, the President said “it depends on who we’re talking about” and accused the Democrats of putting “a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy.”
Accountability hasn’t been Trump’s strongest suit and he proved it yet again during his interaction with the reporters at the White House, “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’ll take care of them in a different way,” said Donald Trump.
Amid the ongoing government shutdown, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared an update in a statement that read, “Millions of American federal workers are under enormous financial stress as a result, wondering how they will pay their bills and take care of their families. If the Democrats do not vote to open the government tonight, federal workers will not receive their next full pay check.”
.@PressSec on the Democrat Shutdown: If Democrats do not vote to open the government tonight, federal workers will not receive their next full paycheck, the special nutrition program for women and infants will run out of money, and service members will miss their next paycheck. pic.twitter.com/jwJs7AzUY5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 6, 2025
Addressing the plight of furloughed federal workers, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course. We have some extraordinary Americans who serve the federal government. I can tell you, the President believes that as well. He doesn’t want people to go without pay.”
In the wake of the government shutdown, the Democrats have outright rejected the condition that furloughed federal workers might not be paid, deeming the move unlawful.
Reacting to the White House memo draft, Sen. Patty Murray wrote on X, “The letter of the law is as plain as can be—federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backpay following a shutdown. Another baseless attempt to try and scare and intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards.”
In a rare occurrence, a Senate Republicans also seemed to question the move of furloughed workers not being paid back. “I think that if you’re talking about my staff and other staff, that’s probably not a good message to send right now to people who are not being paid. I’m not an attorney, but I think it’s bad strategy to even say that sort of stuff,” HuffPost quoted Thom Tillis as saying.
Last week, while talking to the reporters at the White House, Donald Trump blamed the shutdown on the Democrats and also dodged the question and went on to talk about the Presidential Walk of Fame. “It’s taking place right now and it’s all because of the Democrats. The Democrats are causing the loss of a lot of jobs with their, uh it’s a shutdown it’s their shutdown not our shutdown, it’s their shutdown,” Trump said.
When asked about the specific agencies or branches where the firing process of employees had begun, Trump dodged it by talking about the Presidential Walk of Fame walkway outside the West Wing of the White House, “I hope everybody likes the Presidential Walk Of Fame. You know that. Have you seen it? It’s beautiful. Isn’t it? Presidential Walk of Fame… Thank you very much,” said Trump.
