White House looks for a loophole in the law that ensures federal workers get paid after a shutdown

A draft White House memo says furloughed federal workers are not entitled to back pay after the government shutdown lifts, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News.

WASHINGTON — A draft White House memo argues that furloughed federal workers are not entitled to back pay after the government shutdown lifts, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News.

The memo, first reported by Axios, comes despite the Office of Personnel Management's own September guidance, which said federal workers will receive retroactive pay after the shutdown lifts.

The memo also clashes with a 2019 law that requires back pay for federal workers. The law, called the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, says all federal employees, whether furloughed or deemed essential and working without pay, must receive back pay after a shutdown ends.

"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," the 2019 law says.

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