Thread by @JuddLegum

1. It's likely that the current shutdown is illegal.

There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the law in these situations.

Most of the reporting gets it wrong.

Let's review.

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2. The standard line is that the Antideficiency Act (ADA) allows the government to force essential employees to work without pay.

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

In general the ADA prohibits the government from spending money not appropriated by Congress.

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3. The ADA also prohibits the government, in most cases, from accepting volunteer services from government workers.

The exception to this rule is "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property."

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4. But there is NOTHING in the ADA that explicitly allows the federal government to force people to work without pay. That's something that presidents have assumed, but it's not in the law.

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5. Meanwhile, there is another law - the Fair Labor Standards Act - that says everyone who works needs to be paid a minimum wage

Forcing people to work and not paying them is a clear violation of the language of the FLSA

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6. It's the FLSA violations that are at the heart of the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against the Trump Administration.

But this isn't a case of first impression.

Workers in the 2013 shutdown sued the federal government AND THEY WON

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7. The issue here is that workers are trying to get an injunction forcing the government to pay them. That's different than trying to get damages after the fact. And so far, the courts have been very hesitant to intervene.

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8. This hesitancy by the court is less about the letter of the law and more about the reticence of judges to get involved in "politics."

But judges are involved. They are validating a legal structure that allows the shutdown to continue indefinitely

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9. One option is that the House of Representatives could try to sue the Trump administration. This is now an option thanks to Boehner's decision to sue Obama over Obamacare.

Stay tuned.

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