As the threat of a government shutdown looms, so does the prospect of “mass firings” at the federal level.
President Donald Trump said over the weekend that if the government shuts down, the administration may take the step of eliminating federal workers. “We are going to cut a lot of the people that … we’re able to cut on a permanent basis,” he told NBC.
During a government shutdown, non-essential operations across the federal government halt as workers are temporarily furloughed or put on leave.
Since January 2019, under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Actof 2019, all furloughed federal employees are guaranteed back pay once funding is restored. Previously, back pay was not automatic — but Congress usually passed legislation afterward to compensate workers.
But, if the recent past is any indication, those workers always return to their jobs, says Christopher Bosso, professor of public policy and political science at Northeastern.
“In other government shutdowns due to budgetary face-offs between Congress and the President — Republicans v. [Bill] Clinton, Republicans v. [Barack] Obama, Republicans v. Trump — non-essential federal employees are furloughed but not fired,” he says.
Bosso says that most experts tend to agree: the president doesn’t have legal authority to fire federal workers unless Congress acts to cut off funding to a specific program or agency, “leaving the workers with no basis for employment.”
Read more at Northeastern Global News
