President Trump on Tuesday suggested some government workers furloughed during the shutdown could receive backpay, while others won’t.
“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about. 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,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the prime minister of Canada.
“But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people,” Trump added. “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.”
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Asked later why he was saying only some workers should get backpay, Trump said to “ask the Democrats that question.”
When a reporter noted the law says workers will receive backpay after the government is reopened, Trump replied, “What the law says is correct, and I follow the law.”
A draft memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has raised the possibility that furloughed federal workers may not be entitled to backpay from their time off during the government shutdown.
The OMB memo cites a line in the amended version of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, which President Trump signed during the last government shutdown, which states that furloughed workers will receive backpay “subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.”
Democrats and a major union representing federal workers have quickly pushed back on the suggestion that furloughed workers would not receive backpay.
It would also be at odds with guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management last month ahead of the ongoing government shutdown.
The Office of Personnel Management guidance features answers to frequently asked questions, including whether furloughed employees will get paid.
“Yes. After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods,” the guidance states. “Retroactive pay will be provided on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates.”