Commuters cross the road close to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) headquarters on October 1, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Al Drago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Government shutdowns have traditionally been an precarious time for federal workers, each for these required to stay on the job with out pay and people furloughed. This shutdown comes with added monetary uncertainty.
A draft memo from the White House, first reported by Axios and confirmed to NBC News by the White House, suggests not all federal workers on furlough are entitled to obtain back pay as soon as the federal government reopens. Asked about back pay, President Donald Trump mentioned on Tuesday, “I would say it depends on who we’re talking about.”
“It really depends on who you’re talking about,” Trump mentioned. “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’ll take care of them in a different way.”
Trump has additionally threatened mass firings, if Democrats will not conform to the GOP funding proposal.
Back pay assured by legislation
The memo runs counter to a federal legislation that requires back pay for federal workers after a shutdown ends, and to current steerage from the Trump administration.
Congress handed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019, and Trump signed it, after the final authorities shutdown, which lasted for a report 35 days.
“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,” in keeping with the law.
In prior shutdowns, Congress would go a invoice to offer federal workers with back pay.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the biggest union of federal workers, referred to as the administration’s argument “frivolous” and “an obvious misinterpretation of the law.”
“It is also inconsistent with the Trump administration’s own guidance from mere days ago, which clearly and correctly states that furloughed employees will receive retroactive pay for the time they were out of work as quickly as possible once the shutdown is over,” Everett Kelley, the nationwide president of AFGE, mentioned in a press release.
The Office of Personnel Management, the federal government’s equal of a human sources division, issued guidance dated September 2025 stating that retroactive pay shall be obtainable for federal workers affected by a lapse in appropriations “as soon as possible after the lapse in appropriations ends.”
Federal workers could produce other authorized choices
“The federal government’s threat not to pay furloughed federal employees is both alarming and legally questionable,” mentioned Tom Spiggle, a labor and employment lawyer and founder of the Spiggle Law Firm in Washington, D.C.
If the administration doesn’t present back pay, workers could produce other authorized choices, he mentioned, together with bringing a case below the Fair Labor Standards Act. They might additionally enchantment via the Merit Systems Protection Board, an unbiased company charged with defending federal workers. A category motion lawsuit can also be an choice.
“Federal employees should document their losses and preserve records of any communications or threats related to pay,” Spiggle mentioned. Those authorized avenues for recourse can take months, if not years, to resolve.
If you are lacking paychecks, listed below are some methods to deal with delayed or misplaced revenue.
Focus on money circulate
Start with a vigorous accounting of bills: “Three things you really need to focus on … cash flow, cash flow and cash flow,” mentioned Mary Clements Evans, a licensed monetary planner and proprietor of Evans Wealth Strategies in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Many individuals haven’t got an understanding of their month-to-month bills past the big necessities akin to hire or mortgage and automobile funds, she mentioned. Automatic funds and debit or bank card swipes may also make it more durable to gauge discretionary spending.
“We’re in a world where we’re disconnected from our spending habits,” Evans mentioned.
Once you’ve a deal with on bills, plan for reduced income. This could imply figuring out which savings to tap and adjusting your price range.
“It sounds like that’s a financial equation, but it’s not. It’s often emotional and psychological, because they feel they’re losing their identity and their status,” mentioned Evans, who can also be the writer of “Emotionally Invested.”
Reach out to your lenders. Financial establishments could provide fee deferrals, mortgage modifications and different types of hardship help. For instance, Navy Federal Credit Union is providing a Paycheck Assistance Program with zero-interest loans for eligible members affected by the shutdown.
Prepare for attainable unemployment
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The Trump administration’s plan for a “reduction in force,” or RIF, is exclusive to this shutdown.
“It’s obviously a changing time in terms of the willingness of this administration to take novel views of what has previously been considered, and is from a plain reading, considered clear law,” mentioned John Hatton, workers vp for coverage and packages on the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
During a shutdown, a majority of workers at authorities companies funded via the annual appropriations course of are sometimes placed on furlough, or unpaid go away, if the company hasn’t acquired funding. Those whose work is critical to guard life or property, or to ship mandated advantages, are thought-about important and required to work, in keeping with the Office of Personnel Management.
“This is always a difficult situation for federal employees,” Hatton mentioned, “whether they’re working or furloughed or now, adding this new option of receiving a RIF notice, for possible permanent loss of their employment.”
Two federal worker unions, AFGE and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have filed a lawsuit to maintain the Trump administration from transferring ahead with RIFs in the course of the shutdown, calling the threat of RIFs illegal.
There are authorized necessities for an RIF: Agencies should present justification for the layoffs, give written discover to workers 60 days earlier than a layoff and provide an appeals course of. During a shutdown, solely “essential” features are purported to be carried out, and consultants say it is unsure if finishing up mass layoffs would match that definition.
To put together for a attainable layoff, federal workers ought to analysis unemployment benefits and decide when their health coverage would possibly finish.
Research medical insurance prices, too. Workers might be able to extend their federal workplace plan for as much as 18 months via the Temporary Continuation of Coverage choice — however they nonetheless should shoulder the complete price of premiums.
For now, a extra reasonably priced choice might be market protection below the Affordable Care Act.
“You can go and you can get insurance through them, and that is based on your income,” Evans mentioned.
However, the enhanced subsidies which have kept premiums low are set to run out on the finish of the 12 months, until Congress acts.
The subsidies are a key sticking point within the present authorities funding debate. Democrats say they need to lengthen them as half of the present price range negotiations, whereas Republicans say they need to debate the coverage solely after averting a shutdown.
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