The Coast Guard will work without pay during the government shutdown. Duties like search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental response and security operations will continue.
Approximately 42,000 active-duty military members of the Coast Guard remain on duty during the partial government shutdown, according to an NBC News.
“Unless legislation is passed by Friday, Dec. 28, our military workforce will not receive our regularly scheduled pay check for 31 Dec.,” said Chief Warrant Officer Allyson Conroy.
However, both houses of Congress adjourned Thursday after brief sessions and will not reconvene until Monday, according to CNN.
That makes the Coast Guard the only branch of the military whose members will work without pay until the shutdown ends. The branch falls under the Department of Homeland Security, rather than the Department of Defense, which will continue to be funded during the shutdown.
Thousands of the Coast Guard’s civilian workforce, have been furloughed without pay until further notice.
The Coast Guard continues operations authorized by law that provide for national security or that protect life and property during partial government shutdowns; however, there are some impacts to our day-to-day operations. The Coast Guard stops or curtails mission activities that do not fall into those categories. Coast Guard uniformed personnel will continue to perform their duties during a partial government shutdown and will provide essential services such as search and rescue, port and homeland safety and security, law enforcement and environmental response. However, with a government shutdown, they will likely not have the full support that they need in order to maintain mission readiness.”
Petty Officer Adrian Ledesma with the U.S. Coast Guard Station Manistee, Michigan, told UpNorthLive.com, “we are working with our commands to make sure that we are taking care of our shipmates and make sure that we are all financially stable utilizing a number of financial assistance avenues within our organization the outside with private credit unions as well.”
In past government shutdowns, personnel have been reimbursed for lost pay when the government re-opened. At present, they will not receive a paycheck until 2019.
