Trump Administration Is Asking Thousands More Government Workers To Work without Pay

One of the notable recent elements of this partial government shutdown -- the longest in history -- is that the Trump administration keeps designating more and more of the federal government essential, or excepted from the furlough, ordering many thousands of workers back to the office to process tax returns, perform safety inspections and more -- all without pay.

The practical effect is that more government workers will be doing their jobs without their paychecks, but it will also work to mute the impact of the shutdown in the everyday lives of Americans who aren't directly touched by the shutdown.

Only about 25% of the government was affected by the shutdown to begin with since Congress had already funded the Pentagon and other agencies. But there are a growing number of essential tasks performed by that quarter, which includes the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. All have been working without pay. That includes members of the Coast Guard, who had been working throughout the shutdown, but on Tuesday became the first US service members to not be paid because of a shutdown when their paychecks came through empty, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl L. Schultz said.

The largest and most incredible of the switches from furloughed to essential is that the Internal Revenue Service will officially be recalling tens of thousands of workers -- 36,000 of them -- to process tax filings and refunds.

Federal courts, which are not controlled by the administration, have now twice announced that existing funds could help their work force limp along with pay. The latest guidance is that court offices will run out of money January 25, at which point essential staff will work without pay. 
One group that hadn't been working is Food and Drug Administration food inspectors, who hadn't been inspecting food since the partial shutdown began. But it was announced Monday that inspectors would return, without pay, to start inspections again.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday it would recall an additional group of furloughed employees, according to the New York Times, adding thousands of unpaid workers to the air traffic controllers and other FAA employees who had been working since the shutdown started.