Source: Washington Post
“Furloughed federal workers are not entitled to automatic back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up tensions in Washington over the week-long closure. The top lawyer at the White House Office of Management and Budget argued in the draft that the law Congress passed and Trump signed guaranteeing back pay to furloughed workers in 2019 does no such thing. Mark Paoletta, the office’s general counsel, wrote to White House budget director Russell Vought that the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act and subsequent legislation merely create conditions for Congress to authorize those payments. Lawmakers must also specifically set aside additional money to compensate workers returning from furloughs, he wrote.” (10/07/25)