White House debates pulling back pay from furloughed workers– www.washingtonexaminer.com
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The White House is scrutinizing ways to keep federal workers who were furloughed during the government shutdown from receiving back pay.
The Trump administration is eyeing a memo from the Office of Management and Budget that asserts there is a loophole in a 2019 federal law seeking to ensure government workers are guaranteed retroactive compensation for time off during shutdowns, an administration official confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
The development comes as President Donald Trump and Republican leadership in the House and Senate seek to increase pressure on Democrats to pass a “clean” continuing resolution to reopen the government. If the White House acts on OMB’s recommendation, the Trump administration will say Democrats are to blame for as many as 750,000 federal workers being denied retroactive pay due to accusations that the opposition triggered the move by thwarting the CR’s passage.
The memo from OMB Director Russell Vought’s office argues that an amendment made to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act nine days after the law’s original signing changes the interpretation of the back pay protections for furloughed workers, according to Axios. Rather than workers automatically getting back pay under GEFTA, Congress would have to get involved in funding retroactive salaries, under OMB’s interpretation of the law.