(MENAFN) The Trump administration has cautioned that certain federal employees affected by the ongoing government shutdown might not receive compensation for lost wages once the budget deadlock ends—a stance some lawmakers are condemning as unlawful.

According to reports, a memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) argues that a 2019 law guaranteeing back pay during shutdowns does not extend to workers who were temporarily instructed not to report for duty.

When questioned by reporters, President Donald Trump said back pay “depends on who we’re talking about” and added that some workers “don’t deserve to be taken care of.”

Roughly 750,000 government employees are currently missing their paychecks as the shutdown nears the end of its first week.

Hakeem Jeffries, the leading Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, rejected Trump’s interpretation of the law, stating, “The law is clear — every single furloughed federal employee is entitled to back pay, period.”
Though the OMB memo was written last week, reports indicate it became public on Tuesday. It stated that once the shutdown concludes, federal agencies must pay “essential” employees—such as air traffic controllers—who were required to continue working. However, it asserted that the government has no obligation to compensate those who were furloughed and sent home without pay.
The 2019 legislation, approved by Congress and signed by Trump, mandates that federal and District of Columbia government employees, whether furloughed or working during a funding lapse beginning after December 22, 2018, must be paid for that period. The law was enacted following the previous major shutdown that lasted over a month.

The current funding halt began on October 1. Both parties in the Senate remain at an impasse, with Democrats and Republicans proposing competing plans to reopen the government—each failing repeatedly in votes. Democrats are insisting that any deal address health care provisions, while Republicans are pushing for a “clean” measure focused solely on the budget.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he had not yet discussed the back pay issue with the White House but noted that recent legal opinions were questioning whether furloughed employees must be paid retroactively. “It’s true that in previous shutdowns, many or most of them have been paid for the time they were furloughed,” he said. “There are some legal analysts who are saying that may not be appropriate or necessary.”

Johnson added that if those opinions are upheld, Democrats may face increased pressure to support the Republican proposal to reopen the government. Congressional records indicate that Johnson had voted in favor of the 2019 back pay law.

Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the OMB’s stance. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia called it “totally illegal” and described the memo as “another illegitimate attempt” by OMB Director Russ Vought to “traumatize” federal workers, “which seems to be what gets him out of bed in the morning.”

Some members of Trump’s own party also appeared unconvinced by the administration’s position. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a leading Republican in the Senate, said he anticipated that furloughed employees would still be compensated. Similarly, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis characterized the suggestion that they might not be as a “strategic mistake.”
“I don’t think that that is a helpful discussion right now,” Tillis remarked.

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