Democratic Lawmakers Demand Federal Workers Receive Back Pay

The Office of Management and Budget has argued that non-essential furloughed workers are not guaranteed back pay. ‘They’re lying,’ a Maryland Democrat said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks alongside other Democratic members of Congress at a press conference at Liberty Plaza in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 14, 2025 (Arjun Singh/The Epoch Times).

WASHINGTON—Democratic lawmakers, at a press conference outside the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Oct. 14, demanded that federal workers receive back pay when the ongoing government shutdown ends.

The press conference at Washington’s Liberty Plaza was organized by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who represents nearly 500,000 federal workers and contractors who live in his state, many of whom have not been paid since the shutdown began. Other Democratic lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia joined him at the event held on the 14th day of the shutdown.

Van Hollen demanded that the furloughed workers receive back pay for the duration of the shutdown once funding is restored, citing a 2019 law that requires it. The OMB has interpreted the law differently, arguing that non-essential furloughed workers are not guaranteed back pay. Instead, Congress needs to specifically appropriate back pay funding for those workers, the office said.

“They’re lying when they say federal employees who have been furloughed will not get full back pay when the government reopens. ... It is the law to make sure federal workers get back pay,” said Van Hollen. “They had nothing to do with the government shutdown, and they should not be the ones who are punished.”

Van Hollen suggested that the effort to deny back pay was part of the “Project 2025 playbook,” a conservative policy blueprint by the Heritage Foundation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said that he supports back pay for federal workers. “[It is] tradition and I think it is statutory law that federal employees be paid, and that’s my position. I think they should be,” he said.

The Maryland senator also criticized the White House’s layoffs during the shutdown.

“In previous government shutdowns, federal workers got furloughed. They did not get fired. ... [It] is part of the Trump administration’s campaign to inflict trauma on federal workers,” he added.

The sentiment was echoed by other Democratic lawmakers at the event.

“In the northern Virginia, Maryland, [and] D.C. area, a lot of people are really, really hurting. It’s up to us to step up for them,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

The OMB published a statement on Oct. 14 stating that it was prepared to dismiss more workers using the “Reduction in Force” policy, which allows federal employees to be separated for reasons unrelated to their merit, such as when funding does not exist to pay them.

Democrats have blocked a Republican stopgap plan to fund the government, demanding that the bill include an extension of Obamacare subsidies due to expire at the end of the year.

In response to a question from The Epoch Times about whether Obamacare subsidies were a greater priority than restoring workers’ pay quickly, Van Hollen deferred and asked Republicans to support the Democratic plan to fund the government, which includes an extension of the subsidies.

The Trump administration and Republicans have rejected Democrats’ demands, saying that health care demands cannot be made in exchange for keeping the government open.

Johnson has said that Obamacare subsidies are a separate policy question to be addressed after a funding bill is passed.

The OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.