"The law is simply not on the side of Trump's threats to withhold pay from federal employees that he somehow disfavors," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told Axios in a phone interview. Driving the news: The memo points to amended language in the "Government Employee Fair Treatment Act" of 2019, or GEFTA, that says compensation for furloughed employees is "subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse."