The White House on Tuesday warned that federal bureaucrats who have been forced not to work, due to the Democrat shutdown, are not guaranteed to receive back pay.

If the White House were to move on the legal analysis, it would up the ante on Senate Democrats to end the weeklong shutdown by denying back pay to as many as 750,000 federal workers after the shutdown.

A memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget argued that the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA), a bill Trump signed during his first term in office, is “deficient” and does not guarantee that federal workers automatically would be compensated after a shutdown ends.

“Does this law cover all these furloughed employees automatically? The conventional wisdom is: Yes, it does. Our view is: No, it doesn’t,” a senior White House official said.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans want to fund the government using a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) without enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which expire at the end of the year.

“This would not have happened if Democrats voted for the clean CR,” a senior administration official told Axios.

The Trump White House believes that GEFTA states that the government would pay workers for “obligations incurrent” during the 2019 shutdown.

“If it [GEFTA] was self-executing” in future shutdowns, “why did Congress do that? It’s precedent,” a White House official remarked.

Not all agree with the White House’s interpretation.

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

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has told Breitbart News that taxpayers are paying $400 million per day for non-essential federal bureaucrats not to work during the Democrat shutdown.

“Make no mistake – the Schumer Shutdown is hitting Americans where it hurts the most – their wallets. Every day Democrats drag this on, taxpayers will foot a $400 million bill for 750,000 non-essential bureaucrats NOT to work,” the Hawkeye State conservative said.

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.