A memo released this week reveals the Trump administration is considering denying retroactive pay for up to 750,000 federal workers furloughed as part of the federal shutdown. But it turns out this doesn't just violate federal law, it contradicts prior guidelines the Trump administration itself laid out in an earlier memo.
According to MSNBC analyst Sam Stein, "The [Office of Management and Budget] memo ... saying furloughed workers aren't necessarily allowed backpay seems to be in direct contradiction to the [Office of Personnel Management] shutdown guidance the administration issued LAST MONTH."
That particular guidance, screenshotted by Stein on his X post, read, "After the lapse in appropriations has ended, employees who were furloughed as the result of the lapse will receive retroactive pay for those furlough periods. (See 31 U.S.C. 1341(c)(2).) Retroactive pay will be provided on the earliest date possible after the lapse ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates. (See 31 U.S.C. 1341(c)(2).) If retroactive pay cannot be provided by the normal pay date for the given pay period, it will be provided as soon as possible thereafter. Retroactive pay is provided at the employee's 'standard rate of pay.'"
The guidance in this memo, noted congressional staffer Aaron Fritschner, comes from the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, a bill passed by Congress in 2019 that requires back pay for any government employee put on leave during a shutdown.
OMB is run by Russ Vought, a hardline anti-government activist who helped draft the infamous "Project 2025" plan to restructure the entire government for permanent Republican Party rule. Trump denied any involvement with Project 2025 on the campaign trail last year, even though many of its architects were alumni of his previous administration.
The current shutdown comes as Democrats demand an extension of critical Affordable Care Act subsidies that keep insurance rates stable for millions of people as a condition of their votes to pass continued funding. President Donald Trump and GOP leadership have so far refused to negotiate on the matter, demanding the funding pass first.
