Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Nearly two weeks after the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history ended late last month, some federal employees have reportedly still not received all their backpay. “President Trump stood in the Rose Garden at the end of the shutdown and said, ‘We will make sure that you guys are paid immediately.’ ... And here it is, it’s almost two weeks later,” Michael Walter, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety inspection service, told the Associated Press. Walter said he just received his paycheck Wednesday but knew at least two other workers who had still not received their pay. A Department of Interior spokesman told the Associated Press that a “small group of employees” in the five agencies it handles payroll for have not received any payments, while others have received “interim payments of back pay” that would be later paid in full. The Census Bureau reportedly said about 850 employees nationwide have not received any backpay yet, but most are expected to get checks by Friday.
Bradley Bishop, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, reportedly maintained that the Trump administration took “unprecedented steps” to ensure federal employees received pay. “Much opposite of ‘slow and chaotic,’ an overwhelming majority of employees received their pay by Jan. 31,” he was quoted as saying. The federal government could enter another shutdown on Feb. 15 if Congress and the White House don't agree to a long-term deal to fund the government, which will likely include discussions about President Trump's desired $5.7 billion in border wall funding.