The Trump administration’s budget office is claiming federal workers furloughed through the government shutdown are not entitled to automatic backpay, leaving compensation for roughly 1,700 workers at NASA Langley Research Center hanging in the balance.

Federal law states workers are to receive automatic backpay at the earliest possible date following a government shutdown. Congress passed the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 after the previous shutdown, which lasted a record 35 days. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law during his first term.

However, a new draft memo from a top lawyer inside the White House Office of Management and Budget argued that law doesn’t entitle furloughed workers to automatic compensation, according to Axios. It only allows Congres

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