By a unanimous 407-0 vote, the U.S. House approved a measure Saturday morning that would allow the roughly 800,000 furloughed government workers to receive retroactive pay once a continuing resolution passes Congress and the government reopens.

Also on Saturday, the Pentagon said its 300,000 civilian employees on furlough would be asked to come back to work, including many Illinois civilian military workers who returned to their jobs Monday.

During remarks made on the Senate floor over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "It's really cruel to tell workers they'll receive back pay once the government opens and then refuse to open the government."

"Let's open the government," Reid stressed.

The White House said it "strongly supports" the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act, and the Senate may possibly take up the legislation sometime Monday, according to USA Today.