October 8, 2025
Interestingly enough, it was President Donald Trump who signed a law in 2019 that guaranteed retroactive pay after a shutdown.
It has been a longstanding policy that federal furloughed employees will receive back pay during a government shutdown. The Trump administration, however, is warning that there is no guarantee that furloughed workers will receive back pay by the end of the first week of the shutdown, according to a White House memo.
Interestingly enough, it was President Donald Trump who signed a law in 2019 that guaranteed retroactive pay for federal employees after a shutdown. The memo, prepared by the Office of Management and Budget, now says that the law does not apply to employees who have been temporarily asked not to report to work.
“Depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
There are approximately 750,000 employees who are currently working without pay. The current shutdown began on Oct. 1, as Senate Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on reopening the government.
Why Democrats and Republicans Are In A Shutdown Standoff
Democrats are hellbent on a resolution to address healthcare, particularly with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), widely known as Obamacare. Democrats are demanding short-term funding to extend ACA subsidies, which will help reduce health plan costs for families.
Enhanced premium tax cuts under the ACA are slated to end at the end of 2025. Since the introduction of the improved premium tax credits, KFF reports that enrollment in the Healthcare Marketplace has more than doubled from 11 million people to over 24 million, who receive enhanced premium tax credits. If these tax credits expire, some plans will more than double in cost.
Republicans, however, say they want “clean” legislation that addresses only the federal budget.
In the OMB’s memo, first reported by Axios, Democrats were criticized for their role in the shutdown, despite Republicans’ control of both the House and the Senate. The OMB states that the 2019 law, known as GEFTA, is being misinterpreted. Sources told the publication that, based on their interpretation of the law, furloughed employees are not automatically entitled to compensation.
Some analysts argue that the memo is a threat by the Trump administration to strong-arm Democrats into passing the federal budget. That could be risky for Democrats. OMB Director Russ Vought, a key author of Project 2025 that Trump said he knew nothing about during his 2024 Presidential campaign, touted that the administration is withholding as much as $28 billion in infrastructure and energy-related projects in mostly Democratic states as a result of the shutdown.
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