8th October 2025 – (Washington) U.S. President Donald Trump indicated on Tuesday that certain furloughed federal employees might not receive back pay once the government reopens, introducing fresh uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of workers affected by the ongoing shutdown.
Responding to questions at the White House Oval Office, President Trump offered a qualified stance on compensation for idled government staff. “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” he stated. “I can tell you this, the Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy, but it really depends on who you’re talking about.”
He added, “But for the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we will take care of them in a different way.” The President did not elaborate on which categories of employees might be excluded from back pay or what alternative arrangements he envisioned.
These comments follow a report by Axios earlier on Tuesday, which cited a draft White House memo indicating that furloughed federal workers are not guaranteed compensation for their forced leave during the government shutdown.
The remarks introduce potential complications to established precedent. Following the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January 2019, President Trump himself signed a law designed to guarantee back pay for federal employees affected by future funding lapses. Prior to this legislation, the US Congress had routinely approved back pay for federal workers once a funding bill was passed.
The political stalemate continued as Democratic leaders countered the President’s accusations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asserted on the social media platform X, “The Republicans shut down the government instead of fixing health care for Americans across this country.”
An analysis released last week by the Congressional Budget Office suggests approximately 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed during this shutdown. Meanwhile, employees deemed “essential,” including air traffic controllers and law enforcement officers, are required to continue working without pay until the government resumes normal operations.