I could be wrong, but I assume he’s thinking during a shutdown gov’t workers won’t be working.
Some government workers won’t. Active duty? We work. The last time it was pretty irritating knowing I was at work (even though pay day had already come and I knew it would be fixed before the next one) and all the GS employees were furloughed....which means they were basically getting a day off and would get paid for it when the CR or budget was passed. Even IF the shutdown went through my next payday (and if this one does) I still have to be at work. No paid vacation like a GS employee.