Most government workers who were furloughed during the partial shutdown will receive their pay by Thursday, the Office of Management and Budget announced on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the hard work of talented employees at @USOPM @OMBPress @DeptofDefense #DFAS @usda #NFC @USGSA @Interior furloughed employees are getting paid in record time. Some employees will receive pay today & most employees will be paid by 1/31/19,” Margaret Weichert, the deputy director for management at OMB, tweeted on Tuesday.
According to Weichert’s tweet, the furloughed workers are “getting paid in record time” after about 800,000 federal workers went two pay periods without paychecks.
Some employees had to take temporary jobs, sell their cars and take out thousands of dollars in loans.
The government reopened on Friday after the longest shutdown in US history. However, it’s back open only temporarily, so lawmakers must come up with a long-term budget plan in the next three weeks.
Both sides failed during the shutdown to come to an agreement regarding President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to fund a border wall.
During the shutdown, Congress passed legislation guaranteeing back pay for federal employees. Government contractors, however, aren’t as lucky, and there is no guarantee those workers will get paid for the five weeks that parts of the government were closed.