"While the law has long been viewed as guaranteeing back pay after shutdowns, the administration claims it has been misconstrued or even that it is deficient, thanks to a January 2019 amendment. Does this law cover all these furloughed employees automatically? The conventional wisdom is: Yes, it does. Our view is: No, it doesn't, said a senior White House official."
"The argument rests on amended language stipulating workers are compensated subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse. This means, in the administration's reading, that Congress must explicitly approve their pay. Critics, however, denounce the interpretation as legally baseless. There is no legal authority to support that interpretation of the statute, labor attorney Nekeisha Campbell told Axios. Likewise, Sam Berger of the Center for Policy and Budget Priorities urged that the amendment is merely recognition of the appropriations process."
A draft White House memo argues that furloughed federal workers are not automatically entitled to back pay, citing a January 2019 amendment to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (GEFTA). The administration reads amended language to mean compensation is subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse, which it interprets as requiring explicit congressional approval for pay. Critics call that reading legally baseless and say the amendment merely recognizes the appropriations process rather than restricts pay. Up to 750,000 workers could be affected. The administration links the stance to pressure on Senate Democrats and to blame-shifting over the shutdown.
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