White House memo says federal workers may not get automatic backpay: Report

The memo is seen arsenic a unit maneuver connected Democrats arsenic the US authorities shutdown heads into its eighth day.

The White House is attempting to situation a ineligible precedent that grants automatic backmost wage to hundreds of thousands of furloughed national workers astatine the extremity of a authorities shutdown, according to media reports.

A caller White House memo claims that the US Congress indispensable specifically earmark backing for furloughed workers, nether a caller mentation of the “Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019”, according to the US quality outlet Axios.

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Axios reported the quality connected Tuesday evening successful the US, citing a memo from the Office of Management and Budget and elder White House officials. The quality was aboriginal corroborated by different US media outlets.

The Fair Treatment Act was passed during the archetypal medication of US President Donald Trump, pursuing a 35-day shutdown that lasted from December 2018 to January 2019.

The Trump medication is present arguing that the wording of the instrumentality requires a circumstantial enactment from Congress alternatively than an automatic outgo to furloughed workers, arsenic the shutdown is owed to participate its eighth time connected Wednesday.

“Does this instrumentality screen each these furloughed employees automatically? The accepted contented is: Yes, it does. Our presumption is: No, it doesn’t,” a elder White House authoritative told Axios.

Not each Republicans hold with the White House strategy.

Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, a Republican, told CBS News that Trump unsocial could not find whether national workers are paid.

“It’s not up to the president. His sentiment matters, but Congress has got to due the money,” helium said.

“We’ve ever paid backmost wage to the subject and national workers, and Congress has ever appropriated the money, and we volition this time,” Kennedy said.

As galore arsenic 750,000 national workers person been connected furlough since the shutdown began connected October 1, and their compensation amounts to astir $400m per day, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Office of Personnel Management, an autarkic authorities agency, said successful September that retroactive wage would beryllium disbursed “as soon arsenic possible” erstwhile the shutdown ends. The US authorities present owes employees $2.8bn, with nary extremity successful show for the shutdown.

The menace to furloughed idiosyncratic wage has been interpreted by US media arsenic a mode to unit Democrats to negociate and extremity the shutdown. Trump antecedently threatened to usage the shutdown to occurrence national workers, arsenic well.

Many US parks and museums person closed their doors until the shutdown ends, portion non-essential authorities operations are besides suspended.

The interaction of the shutdown is spreading beyond Washington.

The Hollywood Burbank Airport operated without air-traffic controllers connected tract for six hours connected Monday nighttime owed to shutdown-linked staffing problems, according to a section affiliate of ABC News.

Air postulation power was operated remotely by a squad from San Diego, but the airdrome inactive faced formation cancellations and delays. Other airports person reported akin problems since the shutdown began past week.

Democrats proceed to artifact a Republican-sponsored spending measure from passing successful the US Senate to unit Republicans to negociate connected healthcare.

Democrats privation Republicans to reverse cuts to Medicaid assistance and widen expiring healthcare subsidies. Without them, healthcare premiums volition much than treble successful November for galore Americans, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which works connected healthcare policy.

The Republican bill, which extends authorities backing until November 21, failed to walk the Senate connected Tuesday successful a ballot of 52-42. A Democratic mentation of the spending bill, which extends backing done October 31 and makes subsidies permanent, besides failed successful a ballot of 55-45.