Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES—Backlash follows reports Trump administration is considering not paying furloughed federal workers back pay, (Oct 8, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

Leaked contents of a draft memo gave a heads-up that the OMB is considering the possibility of the government not paying the workers furloughed as a result of the shutdown.

Interest groups and politicians on both sides of the aisle are responding negatively to the report that the government might not pay furloughed federal workers back pay once the shutdown ends.

Members of both political parties are pointing to the Government Employees Fair Treatment Act (the Act), which was enacted in 2019 under similar circumstances and amended 31 U.S.C. 1341 by adding subsections (c)(1) through (c)(3). Subsection (c)(2) states, in part, that “Each employee of the United States Government or of a District of Columbia public employer furloughed as a result of a covered lapse in appropriations shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations.”

Settled law. Senator Susan Collins (R-Me.), for one, has called this an issue that was already “settled” by the 2019 law and her sentiment has been echoed by Democrats as well, who note that Trump himself signed the 2019 law and that it is clear on this issue.

Responding to the reports that the White House is considering withholding back pay from furloughed federal employees, AFGE has also issued this statement: “The frivolous argument that federal employees are not guaranteed backpay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act is an obvious misinterpretation of the law. It is also inconsistent with the Trump administration’s own guidance from mere days ago, which clearly and correctly states that furloughed employees will receive retroactive pay for the time they were out of work as quickly as possible once the shutdown is over.”

OMB guidance. In that guidance, issued on September 28, 2025, the question of pay for furloughed employees was addressed specifically and answered affirmatively with citation to the Act: “Yes. 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).)”

However, some have noted that the Frequently Asked Questions portion of that guidance was quickly, and quietly, revised on October 3, 2025, in an attempt to support the new interpretation being offered by the Trump administration. Some Republican legislators are starting to similarly question whether payment is required.

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