US House votes to approve back pay for govt workers

WASHINGTON - US Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Saturday unanimously approved a bill to pay back about 800,000 furloughed government workers once the current partial government shutdown ends.

The 407-0 vote in the lower chamber was bipartisan despite the ongoing fiscal wrangle between Democrats and Republicans. The bill now goes to the Democratic-led Senate for approval. The White House has voiced its support for this measure, saying President Barack Obama will sign it into law.

The US federal government lurched into a shutdown after Congress failed to pass a funding bill by Monday's midnight deadline. Republicans in the House were demanding changes to Obama's signature health care law in exchange for funding the government, which the White House opposes. The first government shutdown in 17 years affected about 800,000 non-essential government workers.

In the United States, the federal government workers who are forced to stay home won't get paid while they are furloughed until Congress approves back bay for these employees. Furloughed government employees were compensated for lost time during the last government shutdown between December 1995 and January 1996.