The agency that oversees the government's civilian workforce is facing scrutiny after suggesting federal employees affected by the partial government shutdown barter with their landlords if they can't make rent payments, advice that has been called "laughable."
On Thursday, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management tweeted sample letters to help the roughly 800,000 affected workers negotiate with creditors and mortgage companies. One letter, meant for employees to send to their landlords, discussed a temporary reduction in rent payments and further suggests "the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments."
On CNN Saturday morning, Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, called the suggestion about trading services for rent payments "laughable" and "unfortunate."
“It’s disgusting, candidly,” Reardon said on “New Day.” He added, “It’s wrong to treat human beings this way.”
An estimated 350,000 workers are on furlough at home without pay due to the ongoing partial shutdown over Trump’s demand for $5 billion in funding for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. The rest are working without pay due to the “essential” nature of their jobs. The partial shutdown entered its eight day on Saturday.
An OPM spokesperson acknowledged receipt of the emailed questions but said a response would be delayed.
The internet provided a much quicker response. The Internet Archive's "Wayback Machine" shows that OPM has offered similar advice for furloughed workers in the past, such as in 2015 when Barack Obama was president, as some pointed out.
Critics also called OPM's tweet tone-deaf for telling furloughed workers to "consult with [a] personal attorney," for legal advice.
The partial shutdown is expected to last until at least the start of the new year. On Friday, Trump issued an order to freeze federal employee salary rates at their current levels in 2019. In a statement, Reardon likened the order to “pouring salt on the wound.”