1 of 3 | Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks during a news conference on the seventh day of the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Senate delayed an expected sixth round of votes Tuesday night to reopen the government as Democrats and Republicans remained entrenched in their positions with no clear end to the shutdown in sight.
The government shutdown has now entered its seventh day, with minority Democrats insisting that extending health care subsidies be a part of any government funding deal. Complicating matters is talk from the Trump administration that furloughed federal workers won't get back pay once the shutdown ends and the appearance of cracks in congressional Republicans' unified position.
The question about whether furloughed government workers will receive back pay when they return to their jobs stemmed from a memo by the White House Office of Management and Budget, first reported by Axios, indicating that 750,000 workers won't receive back pay despite a 2019 law signed by Trump that guarantees it.
"Does this law cover all these furloughed employees automatically? The conventional wisdom is: Yes, it does. Our view is: No, it doesn't," an unnamed senior White House official told Axios.
