{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-demands-back-pay-furloughed-federal-workforce", "Congressman Cohen Demands Back Pay for Furloughed Federal Workforce", "2025-10-09", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", "cohen", "https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "MEMPHIS \u2013 Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) wrote to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought today seeking clarification on whether federal employees furloughed because of the government shutdown will receive back pay when their offices re-open.\n\nA recent OMB memorandum suggested employees may not be guaranteed back pay, which \u201cis inconsistent with both federal law and decades of bipartisan precent,\u201d Congressman Cohen\u2019s letter says.\n\n\u201cThe Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 \u2014 signed into law by then-President Donald J. Trump \u2014 explicitly guarantees back pay for all federal employees affected by a lapse in appropriations.\n\n\u201cThe plain language of that statute leaves no room for doubt: federal employees who are required to work without pay, as well as those furloughed during a shutdown, must be made whole when government funding is restored.\u201d\n\nSee the entire letter here.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-demands-back-pay-furloughed-federal-workforce"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.526969950646162, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}