Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) condemned President Donald Trump on Wednesday over possible plans to withhold back pay from certain federal workers affected by the government shutdown. 

The governor referenced a proposal being scrutinized by the Trump administration that could withhold retroactive compensation from workers furloughed during the shutdown who are not being paid. Pressed on the matter Tuesday, Trump said federal workers for “the most part” had nothing to worry about, but suggested there are “some people who really don’t deserve to be taken care of.”

Moore called Trump’s statement “reckless,” “irresponsible,” and “illegal” during a press conference at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport, during which he noted many federal workers are set to miss their first paycheck on Friday. 

The Maryland governor has emerged as a harsh critic of the Trump administration, particularly in light of the administration’s effort to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Maryland has the most federal workers per capita and has lost more than 15,000 federal jobs since Trump took office, according to Moore, a number he says marks a nationwide high. 

During his remarks at the BWI airport, Moore highlighted federal workers at the facility, arguing the Trump administration is to blame for the shutdown, which will hold up their paychecks. 

“I can tell you one thing for sure, as you see walking around here, our BWI workers are still here. They’re on the job, but unfortunately, because of this situation, the majority of them are right now working without pay. And they’re doing it because they’re patriots,” he said.

“They’re doing it because they know that this work matters, and it’s a stunning contrast, when we have federal workers who will continue to do their jobs with discipline and dignity and distinction and pride, and we have a president who is willing to shut down his own government and rob hard working men and women from the paycheck that they have earned,” Moore continued. 

Moore’s comments mark an attempt to push back on Republican arguments that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown. 

The shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1 after Democrats blocked a GOP-led continuing resolution to keep the government open. Democrats wanted several attachments to the CR, including extending Obamacare subsidies, contending it was a matter of critical urgency. Republicans wanted a “clean” CR. They wish to push the healthcare reform debate to later this fall, arguing it would be better to reopen the government first due to concerns that tackling the problem would take an extended time and be best handled during the annual appropriations process over the next few months. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been among the most vocal administration officials blaming Democrats for causing stress to federal airport employees who are already strained due to labor shortages and dated equipment. They have called on Democrats to back the clean CR to provide relief to workers. 

“In a job that’s already stressful, this shutdown has put way more stress on our controllers at a time when they’re already working on equipment from the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s,” Duffy said Monday. 

“They’re not wealthy,” Duffy said of federal airport workers in remarks the following day. “They don’t have three or four or five months of cash sitting in their bank accounts. Like many of us, they go from one paycheck to the next, and they rely on that to pay the bills.”

Moore slapped back this week, pointing the finger back at the Trump administration. 

“My message to President Trump is [this]: … Stop attempting to gut healthcare for working families and end this shutdown. Now. You’re the one causing it. We’re the ones feeling it. It needs to end,” he said. 

“I’m sorry that Washington cannot seem to perform basic functions that your families are performing every single day, that we are talking about public servants, people who have dedicated their lives to this country, people who have taken an oath to make sure that airline safety is paramount, that we have a beautiful airport for people to be able to come and visit,” Moore added in comments to reporters. 

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The Maryland Democrat’s press conference comes after he launched a series of efforts to support federal workers affected by the shutdown.

On Monday, he announced a program designed to offer financial aid to certain federal employees during the shutdown. The Maryland Department of Labor’s Federal Shutdown Loan Program offers a one-time, no-interest loan of $700 to “excepted” or essential federal employees, meaning those required to keep working without pay during the shutdown. The loan must be repaid 45 days after the shutdown ends. While applications for the program opened Monday, loans will only be issued if the shutdown is still in effect on Oct. 15.

“At a time when the federal government is stepping back from its most basic obligations, Maryland is stepping up to protect our people,” Moore said. “The emergency support we announce today will keep public servants afloat as we enter a second week of this shutdown.” 

State agencies are triggering “contingency plans” to ensure that federal programs continue to operate, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. The governor also said he would work to shield furloughed federal workers from evictions, foreclosure, and utility shutoffs, revealing he sent letters to the judiciary and utility companies “reminding them of their statutory legal protections for federal, state, and local government employees who are not receiving a paycheck or are at risk of eviction or foreclosure.”

The federal government is the largest single employer in Maryland, which is home to five dozen federal facilities. Around 260,000 residents are employed by the federal government, and there are roughly 200,000 federal contractors in the state.

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