White House Pushes Back on Automatic Pay for Furloughed Workers Amid Ongoing Shutdown

As the US government shutdown drags into its second week, the White House is quietly testing a new legal argument that could hit hundreds of thousands of federal workers where it hurts: their wallets.

According to a leaked memo obtained by Axios, the administration is challenging the long-standing rule that guarantees automatic back pay once a shutdown ends. The memo, circulated by the Office of Management and Budget, claims that under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, Congress must explicitly allocate those funds, rather than pay workers automatically.

The 2019 law was passed after the record-breaking 35-day shutdown under Trump’s first term, ensuring that workers furloughed through no fault of their own would eventually get their paychecks. But the White House now says the law doesn’t actually guarantee that without congressional action.

About 750,000 federal employees are currently sitting at home without pay, according to the Congressional Budget Office, costing the US government an estimated $400 million per day. With the shutdown now in its eighth day, that’s already over $2.8 billion in lost compensation, and counting.

The move is widely seen as a pressure tactic aimed at Democrats, who continue to block the GOP’s short-term funding bill in the Senate. The Democratic version of the bill, which would extend government funding through October 31 and permanently restore healthcare subsidies, also failed to pass this week.

Meanwhile, the real-world effects of the shutdown are spreading far beyond Washington.
At Hollywood Burbank Airport, flights were delayed or cancelled after it operated six hours without air-traffic controllers on Monday night, relying instead on remote coordination from San Diego. Across the country, national parks, museums, and other public services remain shuttered.

The deadlock has now turned into a political blame game: Republicans say Democrats are holding up the budget over healthcare demands, while Democrats accuse the Trump administration of using federal workers as bargaining chips.