Jenny Abamu

For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abebu.

Lines of federal workers waiting for food boxes wrapped around the grocery store and into the neighborhood.

The county is home to more than 60,000 federal workers.

Jay, a furloughed federal employee who only wanted to use his first name out of fear of losing his job, says he has a one and a five-year-old at home.

This is the first in a series of food drives.

It started with 300 boxes for 150 families, but ran out halfway through distribution.

Organizers say they're doubling the number of boxes for the rest of the week.

For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abamu in Hyattsville, Maryland.

The White House is making the case that hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers are not automatically guaranteed back pay.

The memo seeks to reinterpret a 2019 law passed during Trump's first term to protect furloughed workers like Sarah Cobran at the National Institutes of Health.

She still wants Democrats to hold the line.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen helped write the 2019 back pay law.

He says the statute is clear and, quote, there's nothing the administration can do to change that.

For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abamu.

The White House is making the case that hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers are not automatically guaranteed back pay.

The memo seeks to reinterpret a 2019 law passed during Trump's first term to protect furloughed workers, like Sarah Cobran at the National Institutes of Health.

She still wants Democrats to hold the line.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen helped write the 2019 back pay law.

He says the statute is clear and, quote, there's nothing the administration can do to change that.

For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abamu.