WH May Review Whether Furloughed Employees are Owed Back Pay

The White House is reportedly reviewing a law to determine whether or not furloughed federal employees are entitled to receive back pay once the government reopens. 

The Details: President Donald Trump signed the “Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019” during the last government shutdown. Critics are split over the law’s application, with some arguing that the back pay requirement only applies to essential workers and not to those who were furloughed. If the Trump administration denies furloughed employees back pay, pressure would likely increase on Senate Democrats to agree to a Republican-led spending bill or continuing resolution (CR). The review was reportedly announced in a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), according to multiple sources that were unnamed by media outlets across the political spectrum. 

Key Quotes: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) reportedly said, “Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed and thousands more are working without pay. And meanwhile, House Republicans are getting paid and not working.” Trump alternatively placed blame on Democratic lawmakers by saying they “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’ll take care of them in a different way.” A senior administration official reportedly told Axios (Lean Left bias), “This is not being done simply as a pain-point for Democrats… We believe the existing language is unclear. And the administration is looking for clarity.”

How The Media Covered It: The potential of back pay denial was covered most prominently by media outlets on the left. However, many outlets across the political spectrum that did cover the story, including Washington Examiner (Lean Right) and Fox News (Right), gave voice to both supporters and opponents. BBC (Center) also highlighted Republicans who seemed “sceptical of Trump’s approach,” such as Sen. John Thune (SD) and Sen. Thom Tillis (NC).

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