DHS calls furloughed staff back to work despite shutdown

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has told all furloughed employees to return to work despite the ongoing partial government shutdown, according to a notice sent to employees on Friday. The recall notice said that all currently furloughed employees are to return to duty on their next regularly scheduled workday, which for most will be Monday. The notice mentioned an April 3 memo published by the White House in which President Donald Trump signed an emergency order to pay every DHS employee the equivalent compensation and benefits lost during the partial shutdown of the agency. A Trump administration official separately confirmed that DHS has told all employees to return to work and that Trump’s directive from last week orders that they be paid. A partial U.S. government shutdown has been ongoing for nearly two months. Most DHS employees are deemed “essential,” which means that they are required to work during a shutdown. DHS has 270,000 employees. Lawmakers in t