MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Under ordinary circumstances, Tuesday would have been payday for members of the U.S. Coast Guard. However, the partial government shutdown, now on day 25, has resulted in service members not receiving a paycheck, and many South Florida families are now struggling.
Admiral Karl L. Schultz, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, released a statement on Tuesday that read, “Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled mid-month paycheck. To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our nation’s history that service members in a U.S. armed force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations.”
Claudia Armas’ husband is one of the 42,000 active duty Coast Guard personnel that won’t be getting paid.
“Our rent is due. January’s rent will be due,” she said.
The Armas family has now joined thousands of TSA workers and other federal employees who have been working since the start of the shutdown with no word on when they’ll get a paycheck.
“Military members’ paycheck is not coming. That’s a quality of life issue,” Armas said. “You need to pay your rent. You need to buy food.”
Armas said she has since put her daughter’s seventh birthday party plans on hold because of the uncertainty.
She added that many Coast Guard families will have trouble making ends meet if the shutdown drags on.
“If our military is not being paid, that says something for not just South Florida, but for our whole country,” she said. “Pay our Coast Guard.”
Armas continues to call on Congress and President Donald Trump to take action.
Meanwhile, Admiral Schultz’s statement added, “The strength of our service has and always will be our people. You have proven time and again the ability to rise above adversity. Stay the course, stand the watch, and serve with pride. You are not, and will not, be forgotten.”
The United Services Automobile Association donated $15 million to the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, a nonprofit charity that aids service members.
The organizations will be working with the Red Cross to get the money to families who need it.
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