A sign announcing that the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is closed in Washington, D.C., shown on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
This report has been updated.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration may try to interpret a law passed during his first term differently than it did after the last government shutdown, potentially denying back wages to hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers.
The change in position was outlined in a memo from the Office of Management and Budget first reported by Axios on Tuesday and confirmed to States Newsroom by a White House official, would drastically change the stakes of the ongoing funding lapse that began on October 1.
President Donald Trump did not make clear how he personally viewed the bill during an afternoon news conference in the Oval Office.
“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said. “I can tell you: Democrats have put a lot of people in enormous risk and danger. But it really depends on who you’re talking about. But for the most part, we will take care of our people. There are people who really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we will take care of them in a different way.”
Trump said he would likely announce mass layoffs of federal workers in the next four or five days and opened the door to canceling funding approved by Congress if the shutdown continues.
“I’ll be able to say that in four or five days if this continues,” Trump said. “If this situation continues, it will be significant and many of these jobs will never come back.”
Reinterpreting the law would be contradictory conductivity The Office of Human Resources Management issued a release in delayed September stating that once the statute of limitations ends, employees who were placed on furlough as a result of this overrun will be paid retroactively for those periods of leave.
Congress approved it after a 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term Bill titled Government Worker Fairness Act of 2019, which guarantees back pay for both laid-off and furloughed federal employees. Trump signed the bill himself.
Before the law, Congress typically voted after each funding lapse to provide all federal employees with back pay.
Congressional Budget Office predicted Under the current shutdown, 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed.
Democrats on Capitol Hill rejected the memo on Tuesday, arguing it was another example of Trump trying to circumvent the law.
“The letter of the law is as clear as possible – federal employees, including furloughed workers, are entitled to back wages following a shutdown,” Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote on social media. “Another baseless attempt to intimidate and intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards.”
“This should increase the urgency.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., asked about the memo during a morning news conference, said he hadn’t seen it or spoken to anyone at the White House but didn’t seem to mind changing course.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of discussion about this. But there are legal analysts who don’t think it’s something the government should do,” Johnson said. “If true, it should underscore the urgency and need for Democrats to take the right action.”
Pressed by another reporter about the potential noncompliance rule, Johnson expressed hope that furloughed federal workers would actually receive back pay.
“I can tell you the president believes in that, too. He and I have talked about it personally. He doesn’t want people to leave without back pay,” Johnson said. “And that’s why he pleaded with Chuck Schumer to do the right thing and vote to keep the government open. We don’t want that to happen.”
Johnson did not explain why – if Trump believes furloughed workers should receive back pay under the 2019 law – the White House budget office prepared a memo stating the opposite.
Johnson official website of the Chamber explains that during the shutdown, “federal employees will either be furloughed or, in some cases, required to work without pay. Under federal law, employees are entitled to back wages when the government reopens.”
Democrats call for suspension negotiations
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a morning speech that Johnson “has become a huge obstacle to progress,” although he did not address the possibility of no back pay for furloughed workers.
“Ending this recess will require Donald Trump to step in and get Speaker Johnson to negotiate, because without the president’s involvement, Speaker Johnson and the MAGA Republicans in the House are increasingly entrenched,” Schumer said.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said during a morning news conference that the White House was wrong in its recent interpretation.
“The law is clear – every employee on furlough is entitled to a refund. Period. Stop,” Jeffries said. “The law is clear and we will make sure it is followed.”
American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement that “the frivolous argument that federal workers are not guaranteed back wages under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act is a clear misinterpretation of the law.
“It is also inconsistent with Trump administration guidance from just a few days ago, which clearly and correctly states that furloughed workers will be paid retroactively for the time they were out of work as soon as possible after the shutdown ends.”
Shauneen Miranda contributed to this report.
