SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
October, 07 2025, 04:18pm EDT
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-374-6491
tim.kauffman@afge.org
Administration’s own guidance affirms sidelined workers are owed backpay, AFGE says
American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement in response to a report that the White House is considering withholding the backpay of federal employees furloughed due to the government shutdown:
“The frivolous argument that federal employees are not guaranteed backpay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act is an obvious misinterpretation of the law. It is also inconsistent with the Trump administration’s own guidance from mere days ago, which clearly and correctly states that furloughed employees will receive retroactive pay for the time they were out of work as quickly as possible once the shutdown is over.
“As we’ve said before, the livelihoods of the patriotic Americans serving their country in the federal government are not bargaining chips in a political game. It’s long past time for these attacks on federal employees to stop and for Congress to come together, resolve their differences, and end this shutdown.”
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union proudly representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services.
(202) 737-8700LATEST NEWS
'Illegal... Unconstitutional... Dangerous... Wrong': Texas National Guard Troops Invade Illinois
"Illinois will not let the Trump administration continue on their authoritarian march without resisting," vowed Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
Oct 07, 2025
Defying objections from state and local leaders, Texas Army National Guard troops sent on orders from President Donald Trump began arriving in Chicagoland Tuesday, sparking widespread outrage and vows to resist.
Hundreds of federalized troops arrived at a military facility in suburban Joliet, Block Club Chicago reported. The Trump administration also announced plans over the weekend to federalize the Illinois National Guard and call up hundreds more troops for a mission to ostensibly support the president's anti-immigrant crackdown.
Officials including US Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson—all Democrats—have condemned the deployment.
"No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate,” Pritzker said in a statement ahead of the deployment. “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.”
President Trump and Governor Abbott have illegally sent the Texas National Guard into the sovereign state of Illinois over the objections of Governor Pritzker.This is a frightening and unconstitutional escalation.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@durbin.senate.gov) October 7, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Johnson—who on Monday signed an executive order establishing “ICE-free zones,” barring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from using city-owned facilities—addressed the deployment during a Tuesday press conference.
"As far as what we are hearing, the National Guard—first of all, it’s illegal, unconstitutional, it’s dangerous, it’s wrong," the progressive leader of the nation's third-largest city told reporters. "This is not about deportation. This is not about safety for this president."
Illinois and the city of Chicago on Monday filed a pair of lawsuits seeking to block Trump's invasion. US District Judge April Perry subsequently refused to block the deployment, instead ordering the US Department of Justice to respond to the lawsuit within 48 hours. Perry set a Thursday hearing on the matter before she issues a ruling on the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order to block the deployment.
Trump's Illinois deployment followed his federal invasion of cities including Los Angeles, California; Washington, DC; and Portland, Oregon. Judges have ruled that the LA and Portland deployments are illegal.
On Monday, Trump said he was open to invoking the Insurrection Act to put down future civil unrest in US cities, drawing sharp condemnation from legal experts and other critics, some of whom accused the president of trying to foment disorder he could cite to justify even more authoritarianism.
Officials and activists in Illinois vowed to continue resisting Trump's actions.
"Illinois will not let the Trump administration continue on their authoritarian march without resisting," Pritzker said Tuesday. "We will use every lever at our disposal to stop this power grab because military troops should not be used against American communities."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Johnson Denies He's Delayed Swearing In Grijalva Due to Epstein Files
"Speaker Johnson: Stop delaying her swearing in. Stop hiding the Epstein files. And start doing your job," said Sen. Ed Markey.
Oct 07, 2025
Since Democrat Adelita Grijalva won an Arizona special election for her late father's seat in the US House of Representatives two weeks ago, Speaker Mike Johnson has faced mounting accusations that he has intentionally delayed swearing her in—and on Tuesday, the Louisiana Republican attempted to quash those allegations.
Critics have highlighted that GOP Congressman Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, both of Florida, were sworn in during a pro forma session right after winning special elections in April, and suggested that the delay for Grijalva stems from her support for a forcing a vote on a measure requiring the US Department of Justice to release its files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was friends with Republican President Donald Trump.
Johnson refused Democrats' requests to swear in Grijalva during a pro forma session early last week. She told The Hill at the time: "There's no reason why I couldn't have been sworn in, and it's very problematic, because we're facing a government shutdown. We're going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions."
On Tuesday, Johnson took questions from the press alongside other congressional leaders amid the government shutdown that began last Wednesday. CNN's Manu Raju noted the discrepancy between Johnson's treatment of the Republican congressman and Grijalva, as well as arguments that the speaker has pushed off swearing her in because she would sign the discharge petition for the Epstein files legislation.
"No, it has nothing to do with that at all," Johnson claimed. "We will swear her in when everybody gets back. It's a ceremonial duty."
He then added, "Look, we'll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants."
However, according to Raju, Johnson then said that he would swear in Grijalva "as soon as the House returns to session" and when Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Arizona's two Democratic senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, "decide to open up the government."
Republicans want to stick with their government spending plans, while Democrats are fighting to reverse the Medicaid cuts in the GOP's July budget package and extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, warning that absent urgent action by Congress, the health insurance of millions is at risk.
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson had walked away from a similar question about Grijalva, sparking a fresh wave of criticism, including from multiple Democrats in Congress.
"Adelita Grijalva is the duly elected representative for Arizona’s 7th congressional district," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on social media. "Speaker Johnson: Stop delaying her swearing in. Stop hiding the Epstein files. And start doing your job."
Responding to Johnson's new remarks, the Democratic National Committee's Kendall Witmer said in a Tuesday statement that "after countless excuses and delays, Mike Johnson finally committed to swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva 'as soon as she wants'—so do it, Speaker Johnson."
"The American people are done with the stalling, delaying, and lying that has come out of Trump's White House and his Republican loyalists in Congress as they try to cover up the truth about Jeffrey Epstein's heinous crimes," Witmer added. "The public deserves answers—not excuses. Swear her in. Release the files."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Top French Economist Says Ex-Prime Ministers Should Have Embraced Wealth Tax
"This blocking attitude is at the heart of the budget crisis and also, as a result, of the current political crisis," said Gabriel Zucman after another French prime minister resigned.
Oct 07, 2025
On the heels of France losing yet another prime minister, Politico on Tuesday published an interview in which world-renowned French economist Gabriel Zucman argued that the recently departed leaders should have supported his proposed wealth tax.
Zucman, who leads the EU Tax Observatory and teaches at French and US universities, has advocated for imposing a wealth tax of at least 2% for the ultrarich in France and around the world. However, Sébastien Lecornu, who resigned as prime minister on Monday, after less than a month in office, did not embrace that approach, the economist noted.
Former Prime Minister François Bayrou also didn't support the "Zucman tax." He was in the post when the French National Assembly voted in favor of a 2% minimum tax on wealth exceeding €100 million, or $117 million, in February—and when the Senate ultimately rejected the policy in June. He resigned in early September, after losing a no-confidence vote.
Before both of them, Michel Barnier was prime minister. He resigned last December, also after losing a no-confidence vote. He, too, didn't embrace the tax policy, despite polling that shows, as Zucman put it, "there is a very strong demand among the population for greater tax fairness and better taxation of the ultrarich."
"The executive has so far remained completely deaf to both parliamentary work and popular democratic demands," Zucman told Politico's Giorgio Leali. "They didn't try to have a real dialogue with the opposition on this."
"The very wealthy individuals affected by this measure, and the media outlets they own, have spoken out very vehemently on the subject in an attempt to discourage the government from engaging in any form of reflection or discussion," he added.
On social media, Leali shared a quote from Zucman tying the former prime ministers' attitudes on the tax proposal and broader budget fight to the country's current political crisis—in which "increasingly isolated" President Emmanuel Macron faces pressure from across France's political spectrum to hold a snap parliamentary election or resign.
As Reuters reported Tuesday, "Resignation calls, long confined to the fringes, have entered the mainstream during one of the worst political crises since the 1958 creation of the Fifth Republic, France's current system of government."
Even Édouard Philippe—who, as France 24 noted, was "Macron's longest-serving prime minister from 2017 to 2020"—is urging him to step down, saying that the president must help France "emerge in an orderly and dignified manner from a political crisis that is harming the country."
After the anti-austerity "Block Everything" protests across France on September 10, Mathilde Panot of the leftist party La France Insoumise (LFI) announced that 100 members of Parliament endorsed a motion to impeach Macron.
LFI founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon said Monday that "following the resignation of Sébastien Lecornu, we call for the immediate consideration of the motion tabled by 104 MPs for the impeachment of Emmanuel Macron."
"Emmanuel Macron is responsible for the political chaos," he said, calling out "those in power" for failing to respond to not only the demonstrations on September 10 but also the union mobilizations on September 18 and October 2.
"The president is rejected by public opinion, which desires his departure, and he has lost the support of ALL the parties in his political coalition," Mélenchon added Tuesday. "Why does he remain? A return to coherence for the country requires his departure and a return to the voice of the people."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular