‘Not appropriate or necessary’: Trump and Republicans plan to deny furloughed workers back pay and blame Dems

Donald Trump controls the presidency, the Senate, the House, and has the Republican Party wrapped around his little finger. So, naturally, it’s the Democrats’ fault that everything is going extraordinarily badly for America

Trump is currently frantically trying to blame Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, which began at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 after Congress and Trump failed to reach a deal to fund the government after refusing to offer key Democrats any concessions on Medicaid cuts.

Polls indicate that – entirely predictably – a majority of voters are blaming Republicans for the shutdown. Trump is beginning to flail, though if he goes through with his latest plan, we may see some genuine chaos.

The law clearly states that furloughed workers during a U.S. federal government shutdown – typically non-essential federal employees who are temporarily sent home – are not paid during the shutdown itself. However, they are guaranteed retroactive back pay (also called furlough pay) once Congress restores funding and the government reopens. After all, they have bills to pay, and it’s not their fault the government can’t get its act together.

Trump is now apparently planning to ignore this law, refusing to confirm that furloughed workers will be paid and saying, “there are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of”:

🚨MAJOR BREAKING: Trump just suggested some federal employees don’t deserve BACK PAY that’s legally required:

“I would say it depends on who we're talking about. There are some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of.”

He is sadistic.

pic.twitter.com/dQPbwu3KCf

— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) October 7, 2025

Mike Johnson echoed this, saying there’s “new legal analysis” that he doesn’t know the details of, that says it may not be “appropriate or necessary”:

Mike Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis — I don't know the details, I just saw a headline this morning — but there are some legal analysts who are… pic.twitter.com/pGobIRcZID

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 7, 2025

That’s not fair!

Reactions to this – from both furloughed workers and everyone else – is outright anger. Plus, if Trump believes that people are going to blame the Democrats for him explicitly denying back pay when the law mandates it, he’s clearly delusional:

Let me be clear: It’s ILLEGAL to deny federal workers back pay after a shutdown.

There’s a 2019 law that guarantees it, but Trump is once again trying to break the law.

You don’t get to punish people for doing their jobs just because you’re failing at yours.

— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) October 7, 2025

I hope every furloughed worker stops showing up. As a country, we can deal with whatever slow downs or inefficiencies that causes. Threatening to not back pay them is absurd.

— KleanPlays (@KleanPlays) October 7, 2025

So, if you’re a furloughed worker grimly realizing that you’re not only not getting paid, but that you might not be getting a paycheque at all this month, you can blame Donald Trump. When you do, maybe recall that opulent ballroom he’s building, or the absurd amounts of gold he’s festooning the White House with.