FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Matt Dorsey
(202) 550-6987
October 7, 2025
Washington, D.C. – The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM), representing 110,000 federal workers across the country, strongly condemns the Trump Administration for threatening to illegally withhold back pay from civil servants forced to go without pay during the government shutdown.
“This is yet another example of President Trump’s willingness to break the law and use federal employees as political hostages,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “The law leaves no room for ambiguity: every federal employee must receive back pay once a shutdown ends. The law that NFFE-IAM fought to pass in 2019—the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act—was signed by President Trump himself and passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. Neither President Trump nor Russell Vought can override that law.”
“Once again, I call on Congress to stop treating dedicated federal workers as pawns in this reckless political game. Come back to Washington, do your jobs, and negotiate a bipartisan funding deal. This shutdown is hurting working families and the American people. It must end now.”