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You are here: Home / Budget & Taxes / Democrats Call Trump’s Bluff on Back Pay

Democrats Call Trump’s Bluff on Back Pay

October 7, 2025 at 5:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Members of Congress in both parties bristled Tuesday at a White House memo arguing that federal workers who have been furloughed as part of the government shutdown are not necessarily entitled to back pay,” Axios reports.

“The threat has had little apparent impact with its intended target — congressional Democrats — who expressed confidence that President Trump would ultimately lose any legal fight to deny shutdown pay.”

Said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): “The law is simply not on the side of Trump’s threats to withhold pay from federal employees that he somehow disfavors.”

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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