‘One Paycheck, Maybe Two’: Federal Workers Tell Us How Long They Can Live Without Wages

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/reader-center/federal-employees-unpaid-during-shutdown.html

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The government shutdown that began 20 days ago will become the longest shutdown in American history if it continues through Saturday, and President Trump has said that it could last “months or even years.”

Where does this leave the 800,000 federal employees who are caught up in the shutdown, most of whom will miss a paycheck on Friday?

We asked them to tell us how much longer they personally could endure a shutdown before experiencing financial setbacks, and how they felt about the fight over the border wall that is at the center of the standoff.

More than 200 responded, describing the hardships they face — a sick child, a dwindling supply of prescription drugs, a mortgage in arrears — and the preparations they are making to get by.

Here is a selection of their responses. They have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

My bank account balance is minus $169 and I have $0 in my savings. I am preserving the gas I have in my car and staying put and getting creative with the food I already have.

— Tanisha K., Department of Commerce employee, Maryland

I have a 1-year-old son who was born with a facial deformity, and I stand here in the midst of this shutdown with facial reconstructive surgery expenses for him looming. Instead of mentally preparing for this surgery, I have to be concerned about paying the associated medical bills and normal expenses.

As firefighters in the U.S.D.A. [Department of Agriculture], we are already paid significantly less than other organizations. We spend the summer away from our families in service to the country, fighting fire to pay the bills. Missing a paycheck makes those sacrifices worth nothing.

Our president states that [federal] employees support this shutdown and building the wall. But anyone with a little geographical knowledge knows what a futile endeavor it is. I do not support funding for the wall, and I do not appreciate being used as a leveraging support for this shutdown.

— Nick L., Forest Service employee, Medford, Ore. Has enough savings to last through the end of January.

My spouse passed in 2017. I have been struggling to pay a two-income household’s bills on just my one income since then. I’m an accountant. I’m not allowed to work private sector accounting while employed by the Treasury. I’m only six years from retirement.

I worry when will they cancel my government insurance — health, dental and life — since insurance companies aren’t getting paid with no paycheck. I think I’m going to have to put the house up for sale, the house I have struggled to retain after John’s death.

I want a barrier. I don’t think children and women are as likely to cross with a barrier. It is a physical deterrent. Give him [President Trump] enough money to build what he can in the next two years.

— W.B., Treasury employee, Georgia. Has a month’s worth of savings.

I am forced to work [during the shutdown] and am making slave wages — nothing. We may have to move in with family. The only walls I care about are the ones that keep the roof over my family’s heads.

— Jim P., Homeland Security employee, Washington. Has a month’s worth of savings.

It’s immoral (and should be illegal) to abuse civil servants this way. A vast majority of us are apolitical and devoted to our jobs. We put our hearts and minds into doing the best job we can, effectuating whatever goals Congress sets, as the higher-up execs interpret (by regulation).

We generally have no say or input into either. We are not to blame for badly designed programs, unintended consequences and objected-to goals. We certainly should not be punished as a result of completely unrelated policy disagreements.

— M.S., U.S.D.A. employee, Montana. No savings; tapping into home equity to get by.

I believe some things are worth fighting for, and this is one of them.

My husband is an essential employee who continues to work knowing his pay will be delayed. I’m looking to increase my work hours.

— C.M., Florida. Her husband is a Homeland Security employee. They have several months of savings, but she will look for a job to supplement their income if the shutdown lasts another month.

I am a federal worker at the F.D.A. [Food and Drug Administration] with enough liquid savings to last for the next month or so, but there are plenty of federal workers who are early in their careers or have medical or family expenses who have already tapped those savings.

Plenty of us are still working and incurring commuting costs — we’re just not getting paid. And we’re cleaning our own office restrooms because the contractors are not doing it. Those are the people I worry about the most, as they earn very meager wages to begin with and have no hope of recovering lost pay.

— Kara M., F.D.A. employee, Frederick, Md.

I have been a federal employee for almost 39 years. Not knowing if I can pay my rent or other household bills is frightening! I want the wall. I support it totally … But not at my expense!

— Elenore Mary Maggio, Treasury employee, New York. Has savings for two months.

I have five children and am a single father who has day care and preschool to pay for, not to mention a mortgage and basic necessities. My bills keep coming, gas to get to work still needs to be paid for. My creditors will allow me to miss payments but not without fees and ruining my credit.

— Matthew F., Homeland Security employee, New York. Has savings for no more than two months.

I was hired by the F.A.A. [Federal Aviation Administration] as an air traffic control specialist after over a year and a half of going through the hiring process. I was supposed to start Monday. I moved my fiancée and me across the country, bought a house, only to find out that I won’t actually be starting until after the shutdown.

— Tyler Lano, F.A.A. employee, Rochester, Minn. Has two months’ worth of savings.

I am an air traffic controller in the New York City metro area. We can make it until February before defaulting on our mortgage.

Having to deal with not receiving a paycheck while still working 50 to 60 hours a week is adding to the pressures of an already stressful job.

The uncertainty of not being able to meet our financial obligations, along with the president’s threat that this could drag on for months keeps me and my wife up every night. Even my three children are fearful of what’s to come.

— Bill O., F.A.A. employee, New York.

We have family members who will help. We can last about a year. We want this wall and are willing to fight for it, sacrifice for it.

— Sandra M., Department of Defense employee, Tacoma, Wash. Has a year’s worth of savings.

I’m just glad I saved all of the money I made while in Afghanistan. That and the disability retirement pension I got for getting blown up and broken too many times are the only things that will keep me from facing really hard decisions. Funny, I’m now kind of glad that I have a limp and suffered permanent damage to my endocrine system in battle.

— B.B., Forest Service employee. Has savings for 13 months and 11 days.

The shutdown has allowed me to get another job, which the employer knows I will leave once the shutdown is over. This is a godsend for my family, since I can make enough to get by, knowing I will get a big back paycheck from the government for having done nothing while the shutdown was in effect!

— Bruce Kesselman, Interior Department employee, Las Vegas, Nev.

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