Trump Says Some People ‘Don’t Deserve to Be Taken Care Of’ During Shutdown

President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that some federal workers “don’t deserve to be taken care of” during the ongoing government shutdown, signaling that his Administration is open to denying back pay to hundreds of thousands of furloughed employees once the impasse ends.

“I would say it depends on who we’re talking about,” Trump said when asked whether furloughed employees would receive pay once the shutdown lifts. “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.”

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He did not elaborate or clarify which federal workers “don’t deserve to be taken care of.” But his comments signal a growing willingness inside the White House to use the shutdown as leverage in its broader effort to shrink the federal government.

The remarks come as a new legal analysis from the White House claims that furloughed workers are not entitled to back pay when they return, an administration official told TIME. The memo, first reported by Axios, says that Congress must specifically appropriate funds for back pay, contradicting previous understandings of the law. 

The memo appears to contradict the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act—a law Congress passed and Trump signed in 2019 after the longest shutdown in U.S. history—which states that federal employees “shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations.” But the White House memo argues that the phrase “subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse” means Congress must specifically appropriate those funds. Mark Paoletta, the White House budget office’s general counsel, wrote that back pay could not be issued automatically and would require separate legislation after the shutdown ends.

That interpretation of GEFTA appears to contradict guidance from the Office of Personnel Management issued in September, which told agencies that federal law required the government “to provide retroactive pay…regardless of scheduled pay dates, and subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.” A frequently asked questions document on the White House’s website also said as of Sept. 30 that “both furloughed and excepted employees will be paid retroactively.” That document was later amended Friday to take out the reference to the 2019 law.

The White House did not return a request for comment on whether it intends to follow through on the interpretation outlined in the memo, but the issue has already become a flashpoint in the broader funding impasse. 

David Super, a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, says that Trump’s remarks on Tuesday were “vague,” but that if the President is referring to “regular government employees, the law is very clear—they do get back pay.”

“What [GEFTA] says is that either government employees who are furloughed or government employees who are required to work shall be paid as soon as possible after the lapse in appropriations ends,” Super says. “That seems to be inconsistent with what the President is saying.” Independent contractors, however, do not receive the same protections, according to Super.

If the Trump Administration follows through on denying back pay to furloughed workers, Super says he expects this would be challenged through a lawsuit that “would rapidly succeed.”

Even some Republicans expressed confusion over the Administration’s legal stance. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who voted for the 2019 law guaranteeing back pay, told reporters  Tuesday that “there will be a lot of discussion about” the White House memo—but added: “I hope that the furloughed workers receive back pay.”

“There are legal analysts who think that that is not something that government should do,” Johnson said. “If that is true, that should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said back pay was “a fairly standard practice” and that he was not familiar with OMB’s argument. “My understanding is, yes, that they would get paid,” he said.

Democrats on Tuesday accused the Trump Administration of attempting to weaponize the shutdown to weaken the civil service and pressure them at the negotiating table. “The law is clear—every single furloughed federal employee is entitled to back pay period, full stop,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference. “The law is clear, and we will make sure that that law is followed.”

The federal government has been partially closed for more than a week, with roughly 750,000 employees furloughed and many others working without pay. Negotiations in Congress have stalled, with Democrats insisting that any spending bill include an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at year’s end—a demand Republicans have so far rejected. On Monday, both the House and Senate failed to pass competing short-term funding measures, and no votes are scheduled this week.

Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have repeatedly threatened mass layoffs at agencies they have labeled “Democrat strongholds.” No firings have yet been announced.

Asked how many permanent jobs could be eliminated, Trump said on Tuesday: “I’ll be able to tell you that in four or five days if this keeps going on.”

“If this keeps going on, it’ll be substantial,” he added. “And a lot of those jobs will never come back. But you’re going to have a lot closer to a balanced budget actually.”