Should Furloughed Federal Workers Get Back Pay When the Shutdown Ends?

Furloughed federal employees have received back pay following each of the 16 government shutdowns since 1976. This week, lawmakers in both the Senate and the House have offered legislation to do the same when the current shutdown ends.

According to the Washington Post, support for the idea is one of the few things Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been able to agree on in recent days. Not surprisingly, the bill is garnering the most support from lawmakers in districts near Washington D.C., which are chock-a-block with federal workers.

“Hardworking federal employees did not cause our fiscal crises, nor did they contribute to the legislative gridlock,” the junior Senator from Maryland said in a statement. “It is our responsibility to assure these public servants, mostly middle class and struggling to get by like so many other Americans, will be made whole again when it finally ends.”