As the government shutdown wears on, federal workers are now starting to miss paychecks. A 2019 law entitles furloughed workers to backpay, but President Donald Trump’s administration is claiming that should only apply to essential workers required to stay on the job.

What’s not contested: There are millions of government contract workers who aren’t guaranteed backpay at all if they’re furloughed.

Contractors outnumber federal employees by about two to one, according to analysis from Elaine Kamarck, founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution.

“In other words there’s been a boom in contracting in recent years,” she said.

Much of that is due to defense contracts for things like fighter jets. But there are also hundreds of thousands of lower-wage service roles like janitors, cafeteria workers and security guards.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of anxiety,” said Jewelyn Cosgrove. She’s a vice president at Melwood, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities to get jobs in the D.C. metro area. The organization employs about 1,000 people at 70 different federal sites. 

“A lot of people who work for us this is their first job or their first job in a long time,” she said.

Cosgrove said some of those people have already been furloughed. Melwood has kept others working despite the shutdown, hoping the government will pay the contract when it reopens.

Clarification (Oct. 14, 2025): This story has been amended to clarify that Melwood employees who are working are receiving pay.