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The Trump administration moved around money (dubiously) to pay military servicemembers during the shutdown this week, but roughly 1.4 million other federal employees on furlough or working for no pay are going without, missing the first of what they expect will be many missed paychecks during weeks of political stalemate. With no end in sight, federal workers are drawing down their savings accounts and retirement plans, and getting help from family members, food pantries, credit unions, and a variety of other sources, according to workers, union organizers, and aid group staff.
Those with children and other family obligations are struggling the most. Some said that the nature of their job makes it impossible to take on short-term gigs, because they may be recalled on short notice.
“I’ve been told I may come onto ‘excepted status,’ which is working and not getting paid,” said Danny, a Health and Human Services Department worker who spoke on condition of using only his first name. Because he could be recalled at any time, he can’t commit to outside work or even plan his days, causing him uncertainty, stress, and frustration. He worries not only for himself, but for his aging mom, whom he supports. Like other federal workers, he received a partial paycheck last week for some of the days leading up to the shutdown. Now he’s thinking about borrowing against his Thrift Savings Plan, the retirement vehicle for federal workers, as some of his colleagues have had to do.
“What should I do to supplement the financial uncertainty I’m going through?” said Danny, a former U.S. Marine who served in active duty. He said he resents that lawmakers are using federal workers and veterans alike as “pawns,” and remains a steadfast public servant who takes pride in the fact that he swore an oath to the Constitution twice.
“I think a lot about the unmet needs communities have and the work that’s still left to do,” he said. “I think about how, in this climate, we’re seeing the government take back and reverse progress we’ve made to public health and veteran access to medical care. That infuriates me.”
Officially, the government has been shut down for 17 days. Functionally, it has been shut down for most of Trump’s second term, thanks to deadly spending cuts and layoffs orchestrated by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and former White House employee Elon Musk. Trump and Vought have been using the shutdown to torment workers. First, they threatened to not pay the 750,000 federal employees on furlough and several hundred thousand others working without pay when the shutdown ends, as legally required. Then they rolled that threat back. Next, they fired about 4,200 workers across seven agencies last Friday, including 700 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who were quickly rehired due to an undisclosed error. A federal judge halted the rest of the layoffs on Wednesday. Because of differing pay periods, about 750,000 workers missed their paychecks last week, and around the same number missed theirs on Wednesday. |
