They created this monster

Members of Congress in both parties bristled Tuesday at a White House memo arguing that federal workers who have been furloughed as part of the government shutdown are not necessarily entitled to backpay.

[...]

"For the most part, we're going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of, and we'll take care of them in a different way," [Trump said].

[...]

"The law here is quite clear," said Sam Berger, senior fellow at the Center for Policy and Budget Priorities. "The caveat is, if you follow the law."

  Axios

That is a sad and lonely "if".

"Every single furloughed federal employee is entitled to backpay. Period, full stop. The law is clear. We will make sure that law is followed," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said at a press conference.

Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) said in a statement the White House is "throwing attention grabbing headlines out there to distract from the fact that they shut down the government."

"The over 55,000 federal workers in my District, who know the truth that they will be paid, won't take the bait," Vindman added.

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters that threatening not to pay back workers is "bad strategy" and "probably not a good message to send right now to people who are not being paid."

Probably not, but Trump doesn't care.

The OMB memo is still a draft and it's not official policy yet.

He lives for making threats.