A federal employees union filed a lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration, alleging the partial government shutdown is illegally forcing more than 400,000 federal employees to work without pay.
Since then, many federal departments temporarily closed and delayed worker compensation indefinitely. Even so, employees deemed "essential" or "excepted" have been expected to come to work. The suit asked for the named plaintiffs and others with the same classification be paid owed wages.
"It's outrageous the government expects them to work without knowing when they'll get their next paycheck," lead attorney Heidi Burakiewicz said in an interview with The Washington Post.