Senators Respond to White House Threats on Back Pay for Furloughed Workers as Shutdown Nears Day 8

A White House Office of Management and the Budget memo questioned whether furloughed employees are entitled to back pay.

A closed sign outside the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on Capitol Hill on the seventh day of the federal government shutdown, in Washington on Oct. 7, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

As the government shutdown approaches its eighth day, senators are weighing in on the White House’s new threats to refuse to back pay furloughed federal workers, increasing the pressure on Democrats to find a way out of the shutdown.

On Oct. 7, The Epoch Times confirmed that the White House Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) has drafted a legal memorandum which calls into question whether “non-essential” federal employees who are furloughed and do not work during the shutdown are entitled to back pay.