The Trump Admin is blazing new ground in ordering employee’s back to work while their departments have NO money to pay them….
This time it’s the State Dept.
One assumes that these moves are designed to keep government departments running by requiring the employees to work without pay during this time….
Trump has signed legislation that assures backpay for employee’s…
But if Trump has his way?
This shutdown and subsequent working without pay could go on for a long time, increasing the hardships for federal workers that Trump has no love or even like for….Trump is sure to be trying to put the pay issue in House Democrats laps….The court ruling on this has gone in favor of the Trump admin….
The Trump administration on Thursday called all U.S. diplomats and other State Department employees back to work despite the ongoing government shutdown, telling them will get salary for at least one pay period.
The decision to fully restaff U.S. embassies worldwide as well as State’s headquarters in Washington comes as thousands of other government employees are being brought back to work, but in many cases without pay. It flustered U.S. diplomats who say they are tired of the uncertainty.
The move also is likely to fuel questions among lawmakers, lawyers and others about whether President Donald Trump is stretching legal boundaries to his political advantage as he refuses to sign bills that would re-open the government until he gets funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In an urgent message sent to Civil and Foreign Service officers on Thursday, Bill Todd, the deputy undersecretary of State for management, said the department is “taking steps to make additional funds available to pay employee salaries.”
“By taking these steps, the department expects to be able to resume most personnel operations and fund most salaries beginning with Pay Period 2,” Todd’s notice states, adding that all State Department “direct-hire” employees, meaning Americans, as well as foreign nationals who work for the department are expected to return to work.
Depending on where they are, the employees are expected to return by Jan. 20 or Jan. 22….