The White House’s claims that a 2019 law guaranteeing backpay to both furloughed and excepted federal workers following the end of a government shutdown does not actually guarantee feds backpay lacks both legal and historical grounding, according to experts and a review of the public record surrounding the law’s enactment.
Last week, the Office of Management and Budget quietly revised a Frequently Asked Questions document regarding the ongoing lapse in appropriations, which is expected to last until at least next week, to excise references to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act. The Office of Personnel Management, for its part, still states that furloughed feds will receive backpay once funding is restored.
An internal legal opinion by OMB General Counsel Mark Paoletta, requested by OMB Director Russell Vought, concludes the 2019 law only authorizes backpay for furloughed federal workers, and that Congress must still appropriate the funds after each shutdown. Feds who are excepted from furloughs and forced to work without pay still are guaranteed backpay under this rationale. The legal memo was first reported upon by Axios, though The Washington Post first published the actual document.
“GEFTA’s directive to pay contingent on the enactment of some future legislation is simply not the type of unconditional obligation that would guarantee, without further action by Congress, that furloughed employees would receive backpay,” Paoletta wrote. “Rather than creating an...
In 1995, Princess Diana made broadcasting history and shaped the future of the Royal Family when she sat down with Martin Bashir for an episode of BBC's Panorama. Three decades on, the interview c...