In all the assessments of how little congressional Democrats got from the longest government shutdown in history, there’s one detail that probably deserves more scrutiny than it’s receiving so far. Part of the deal that secured eight Senate Democratic votes for reopening the government provided back pay for workers furloughed during the shutdown, which was predictable since it’s happened after every other government closure. What was new was a provision canceling the layoffs ( reductions in force, or RIFs) that Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought ordered at the beginning of the shutdown and a ban on future layoffs during the length of the agreement. This was the handiwork of Tim Kaine , who represented the final vote needed to enact the reopening legislation

See Full Page