Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) mentioned Tuesday that federal staff furloughed through the shutdown ought to obtain again pay, however he additionally raised the prospect that these funds won’t be forthcoming.
“I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay, of course,” Johnson advised reporters within the Capitol. “We have some extraordinary Americans who serve the federal government — they serve valiantly and they work hard and they serve in these various agencies doing really important work.”
But Johnson additionally acknowledged a brand new memo from President Trump’s finances workplace suggesting that the administration is underneath no authorized obligation to compensate furloughed staff for days misplaced to the shutdown.
That memo, from the White Home Workplace of Price range and Administration (OMB), adopts a novel studying of the Authorities Worker Honest Therapy Act, which Trump adopted throughout a prolonged shutdown in 2019. That regulation has been broadly interpreted as guaranteeing again pay for furloughed staff, however the OMB is difficult that evaluation — a posture designed to place extra strain on Senate Democrats to help a Republican spending invoice and reopen the federal government.
“It’s true that in earlier shutdowns, many or most of them have been paid for the time that they had been furloughed,” Johnson mentioned. “But there are some legal analysts who are saying that that may not be appropriate or necessary, in terms of the law requiring that back pay be provided.”
Johnson emphasised that he hasn’t examined the authorized nuances of the OMB’s rendition, nor has he spoken to the White Home about it. The Speaker mentioned Trump, who’s leaning closely on the shutdown to fireplace federal staff, doesn’t need pay withheld from furloughed staff.
“He and I have talked about this personally — he doesn’t want people to go without pay,” Johnson mentioned.
The Speaker urged Senate Democrats, notably Minority Chief Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), to drop their opposition to the Republicans’ persevering with decision, arguing that no talks on different coverage positions can occur earlier than then.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of discussion about [withholding backpay]. But there are legal analysts who think that that is not something that government should do,” he mentioned. “If that is true, that should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here.”
