The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told federal employees in the Washington, D.C., area to show up on time Thursday, hours after President Donald Trump signed into law a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
“Employees are expected to begin the workday on time. Normal operating procedures are in effect,” OPM said in a status update dated Thursday, Nov. 13. Federal workers can check with their agency or office for other updates.
Federal employees have been furloughed or working without pay since Oct. 1, when funding lapsed and the federal government shut down. The legislation to reopen the government includes back pay for federal workers, some of whom turned to food banks or side gigs to stretch their budgets.
News4 saw quite a few federal workers exiting the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station on Thursday morning.
“You just find out how valuable everyone else is,” one commuter said. “I’ve been here. It’ll be nice to have everybody else back.”
Another said he didn’t like that the deal to end the shutdown didn’t address health care issues.
“I’m disappointed in how it was reached … because I still think we got problems with health care,” he said. “I’m glad to see people getting back to work and getting paid again.”
The bill does not include an extension of subsidies for health insurance purchased under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. It means more than 20 million Americans could see their premiums spike next year.
Government workers returning to offices is also a boon to business owners who serve federal workers.
For weeks, the owner of a truck that sells coffee near the L’Enfant Plaza, which is surrounded by federal buildings, told News4 that his government worker customers were just not there. For him, the shutdown was a major financial hit for which there is no back pay.
News4 joined federal worker Crista Cash as she watched news coverage of Congress voting on the funding deal. She said her last paycheck arrived in early October.
“It’s difficult to watch people who are not impacted at this. They’ve been getting paid the whole time, all of them, and, I don’t know, using people as pawns,” she said.
Cash was furloughed at the beginning of the shutdown, then called in to work part-time. She told News4 she expects to return to the office Thursday.
“Honestly, it’s been nice to have time with my family that I wouldn’t otherwise have. As much as I love staying home with my family and my kids, like, I wanna be able to pay my bills and not have to worry about stressing my family out,” Cash said.
Agencies told employees to return
Multiple agencies told employees on Wednesday to go to work on Thursday, three administration officials told NBC News.
Health and Human Services Department, Department of the Interior, Housing and Urban Development Department, and Department of Justice were directed to report for work before Trump on Wednesday night signed the bill to end the shutdown.
Federal workers set to receive back pay
The legislative package includes a “minibus” of three appropriations bills providing funding through next September and keeps the rest of the government open at current levels through Jan. 30, NBC News reported.
The bill provides back pay for federal workers who received $0 paychecks during the shutdown. It’s unclear when furloughed workers will get their back pay or how fast paychecks might resume. NBC News has reached out to the Office of Management and Budget for details.
The funding bill also reinstates thousands of government employees who were laid off during the shutdown and prohibits reductions in force through January.
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