The Senate returns Monday with no signs of progress toward ending the partial government shutdown that began on Oct. 1, with President Donald Trump blaming potential layoffs on Democrats.
Federal executive branch employees — including those on furlough status and working without pay — could generally receive paychecks on Friday through electronic funds transfer that should be close to normal, even for departments and agencies that lacked funds to pay them past Sept. 30, as the pay covers the pay cycle that ended on Saturday.
But if there are no other funds available, that’ll be it until Congress acts to clear a continuing resolution since the next EFT pay date, Oct. 24, covers the pay period that began this weekend. So the urgency to get an agreement will likely increase. There’s also the ongoing possibility that the Trump administration could push more permanent reductions in the federal workforce as a result of the lapse in appropriations.
