IRS tells employees furlough backpay guaranteed, while WH counters in memo
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The Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC, on Oct. 1. Photo: Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Internal Revenue Service said in a Wednesday memo that federal workers are required by law to be paid for the period that they're furloughed during a government shutdown — a day after Axios first reported on a draft White House memo that argued the opposite.
The big picture: That acknowledgement is a likely relief for the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who face being furloughed each day of a government shutdown.
- But it seemingly contradicts the analysis from the White House, which offered a different interpretation of the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 that President Trump signed during the last government shutdown, per reporting from Axios' Marc Caputo.
Driving the news: A letter from Acting IRS Human Capital Officer David Traynor to IRS employees stated that although workers would be "placed in non-pay and non-duty status during the furlough," GEFTA requires that federal workers who are "furloughed or required to work during a lapse in appropriations to be compensated for the period of the lapse."
- It adds that they must be compensated on the "earliest date possible" after the lapse comes to a close.
Catch up quick: The Office of Management and Budget memo arguing the law had been misconstrued sparked bipartisan discomfort.
- Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Axios's Andrew Solender that the "law is simply not on the side of Trump's threats to withhold pay from federal employees that he somehow disfavors."
- But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued at a press conference that "there are some legal analysts who are saying that that may not be appropriate or necessary in terms of the law requiring that back pay be provided."
The fine print: The contention in the draft memo centered around the phrase that furloughed employees would be compensated "subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse."
- According to the White House argument, that means money for those workers needs to be specifically appropriated by Congress. Asked about not paying furloughed workers, Trump told reporters, "it depends on who we're talking about."
- But attorneys and other advocates for federal workers say that's a clear misreading of the law's intent.
Zoom out: The IRS said an "IRS-wide" furlough began Wednesday for everyone who was not already identified as excepted or exempt. According to its updated contingency plan, that means nearly half of the IRS workforce is to be furloughed.
- "Due to the lapse in appropriations, most IRS operations are closed," the agency said.
Go deeper: Federal workers erupt over latest White House threat to withhold their pay
