A Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) crew member mans the rails as the cutter leaves Honiara, Solomon Islands, Nov. 29, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West)
Editor's Note: This article by Richard Sisk originally appeared onMilitary.com, a leading source of news for the military and veteran community.
Some Coast Guard families began receiving back pay Monday while bracing for the possibility that another government shutdown Feb. 15 could again leave them scrambling to cover bills and put food on the table.
The president announced on Friday that he had reached with lawmakers to re-open the government for three weeks. But Trump was not able to secure any funding for a border wall in the temporary spending measure, according to media reports.
The commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard called the ongoing partial government shutdown "unacceptable" following reports that some Coast Guardsmen are relying on donations from food pantries while their regular paychecks remain on hold.
"We're five-plus weeks into the anxiety and stress of this government lapse and your non-pay," Adm. Karl Schultz said in a video message to service members. "You, as members of the armed forces, should not be expected to shoulder this burden."
Coast Guard cutter Bertholf on a counterdrug patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, March 11, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Trees
U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bertholf left California on January 20 for a months-long mission in the Pacific to support U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the largest of the U.S. military's geographic combatant commands.
Coast Guardsmen aboard the Bertholf left Alameda on the 30th day of what is now the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. They left a few days after not getting their first paycheck since that shutdown started and without knowing when the next will come.
Former President George W. Bush is calling for an end to the partial government shutdown, which is about to hit the one-month mark and is currently the longest shutdown in US history.
In an appeal made on Instagram, the 43rd president called on "leaders on both sides to put politics aside, come together, and end this shutdown." The caption was posted with an image of him and former First Lady Laura Bush giving pizza to their Secret Service detail.
A Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) crew member mans the rails as the cutter leaves Honiara, Solomon Islands, Nov. 29, 2018 (U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West)
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said Wednesday he's won White House and bipartisan support for a bill to pay the nation's Coast Guard personnel during the shutdown.
