5 months ago
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(NewsNation) — Federal workers aren't guaranteed back pay for their mandated clip disconnected erstwhile furloughed, according to a White House memo obtained by Axios.
The memo from the Office of Management and Budget hinges connected an mentation of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, an medication authoritative confirmed to NewsNation spouse The Hill. The memo came arsenic the national authorities shutdown deed one week connected Tuesday.
Trump signed the 2019 instrumentality during the past authorities shutdown, which lasted for 35 days amid absorption for his borderline partition project.
Citing a enactment successful the amended mentation of the law, the OMB memo makes the statement that furloughed employees lone get backmost wage "subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.”
Current guidance from the Office of Personnel Management maintained past period that furloughed employees are entitled to "retroactive pay" for the periods.
Trump connected furloughed idiosyncratic pay: 'Depends connected who we're talking about'
When asked whether furloughed workers should beryllium fixed backmost wage aft the shutdown ends, Trump said Tuesday that it “depends connected who we’re talking about.”
“For the astir part, we’re going to instrumentality attraction of our people,” Trump said. “There are immoderate radical that truly don't merit to beryllium taken attraction of, and we'll instrumentality attraction of them successful a antithetic way."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier successful the time said the "law is clear" regarding compensation.
"Every azygous furloughed national worker is entitled to backmost wage play afloat stop. The instrumentality is clear, and we volition marque definite that that instrumentality is followed," Jeffries said.
At slightest 580,000 national workers could beryllium furloughed during the shutdown, according to NewsNation estimates based connected nationalist unit data.
Last week, White House property caput Karoline Leavitt confirmed that layoffs and firings could scope thousands if the stalemate continues.
“We don’t similar laying radical off. Nobody takes joyousness and if you deliberation that, that’s precise bittersweet you presumption the White House and our unit arsenic wanting to enactment radical retired of work. Nobody wants to bash that, but sometimes successful government, you person to marque the pugnacious decisions,” Leavitt told Mary Bruce of ABC News.
Opposition has already started for the memo. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called it a "baseless attempt" to scare workers by an medication she believes is "run by crooks and cowards.”
“The missive of the instrumentality is arsenic plain arsenic tin beryllium — national workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backmost wage pursuing a shutdown,” Murray said.
NewsNation's Anna Kutz contributed to this report.
