Trump Official Says IRS Will Issue Tax Refunds During Government Shutdown

Officials from President Donald Trump‘s administration have announced that the Internal Revenue Service will issue tax refunds during the partial government shutdown, reversing previous policy.

“Tax refunds will go out,” Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought stated in a news briefing Monday.

Since the shutdown began at midnight on Dec. 21, around 800,000 federal employees have been left without pay. The mass furloughs have led many such workers to sell off goods or exchange their services in other capacities in order to make ends meet since many of them — with (reportedly) the exception of lawmakers — will likely not receive retroactive pay for the duration of the shutdown.

Under prior shutdown plans — and per interpretations of federal law — the IRS was forbidden Fromm issuing tax refunds without congressional approval to fund the Treasury Department. The department’s leader, Secretary Steve Mnuchin, reportedly stated the administration will call back many IRS workers from furlough so that the tax refunds can be given.

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According to the IRS’s website, the agency dispensed more than $324 billion in refunds for all of 2018.

The White House also announced last week that top Trump officials — including Vice President Mike Pence — would not receive scheduled pay raises of around $10,000 while the shutdown continued.

The shutdown is close to becoming the longest in U.S. history. Trump has blamed Democrats for it, citing their refusal to compromise on border security by funding the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as a way to curb illegal immigration.

The shutdown has also caused chaos at many public spaces, including national parks.