My furloughed gov't friends joke about it that way, but as pointed out by trenchpilgrim, they're not getting paid during this. Their paychecks this week will be for only 7 days of work, 30% short of a normal paycheck, and if the shutdown persists two more weeks, then they will not receive their next paycheck (they will eventually receive the pay, but late).
Trump said some workers won't receive back pay and don't deserve to be taken care of
Yes, he's said that, then they backtracked, not sure where they stand now. The law is pretty clear though that back pay is owed to the furloughed workers.
EDIT:
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/10/tuesday-trump-admi...
That article covers the backtracking. Yesterday no back pay, today they tell the employees they will get back pay.
It is incredible how unhinged “businessman” can be