“Thus, we request you immediately clarify and update the Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations Document and other relevant materials to affirm that furloughed employees will receive back pay, as is required by law,” the signatories wrote to Vought.
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the Trump administration is under no legal obligation to compensate furloughed workers for days lost to the shutdown.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of discussion about [withholding back pay]. But there are legal analysts who think that that is not something that government should do,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol.
“If that is true, that should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here,” he added.
Days later, Murkowski said Vought has undertaken “punitive actions” toward the federal workforce with unexpected layoffs during the shutdown that “jeopardize agency missions.”
Now, she’s urging Vought to reverse course on his refusal to provide back pay in an effort to curtail further damage.
Additional signees on the Wednesday letter included Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.).
It was also signed by Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who both caucus with Democrats, and was co-signed by 132 Democratic House members.
