Federal workers’ paychecks impacted as government shutdown continues

(WASHINGTON) — As the government shutdown plows forward with no end in sight, many civilian federal workers are feeling the impact as they receive only a partial paycheck on Friday, the 10th day of the impasse.

For many federal workers, the partial paycheck is the last payment they will receive until the shutdown ends.

“You’ve got millions of American families who will now have to figure out how to make their mortgage, how to cover their rent, pay the car note and keep food on the table — because Democrats, Chuck Schumer, his colleagues in the Senate are here playing games,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during a Friday morning press conference.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries fired back in his own Friday morning press conference saying Republicans are “not serious about reopening the government” and that Democrats are open to having meetings to discuss off-ramps. He urged Republicans to work with Democrats to “pay our federal employees and at the same time address the Republican health care crisis.”

On Thursday night, the Senate again failed to pass the clean seven-week funding bill. Following the seventh failed vote, senators left town for the weekend — ensuring the shutdown lasts for at least two weeks with the next chance to vote to fund the government on Oct. 14.

House Republican leaders on Friday canceled votes for all of next week. 

The latest failed Senate vote guarantees that some 2 million military service members will miss their paycheck on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and won’t be paid until the government reopens.

The last time service members went without pay was in 2018 when the Coast Guard went without money in a shutdown under President Donald Trump’s administration. Other troops haven’t gone without pay in decades, although private financial institutions are offering zero percent loans.

Johnson said that Trump is “working on ways” to ensure the military troops get paid during the shutdown but did not provide specifics.

“The executive branch, the president is working on ways that he may have as well to ensure that troops are paid,” Johnson said Friday morning. “The Republican party stands for paying the troops; the Democrats are the ones that are demonstrating over and over and over – now eight times – that they don’t want troops to be paid. This could not be any simpler than it is – look at the record.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the White House is “going to have to do some things” to pay troops amid the ongoing government shutdown but did not specify details.

“I suspect that they’re probably going to be, yeah, pretty soon they’re going to have to do some things. I think to their credit, the White House has, now for 10 days, laid off doing anything in hopes that enough Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the right thing and fund the government,” Thune said when asked if President Trump should move money around to pay troops.

Pressed by ABC News on the worsening effects of the government shutdown and the millions of federal employees and soldiers going without pay, Jeffries was firm, saying Democrats will not buckle without health care concessions from Republicans. 

“Republicans have the House, the Senate, and the presidency. They decided to shut the government down. Republicans in the House have decided to remain on vacation,” Jeffries said.

The shutdown already appears to be impacting many military families, with some lined up at food pantries around the country.

On Thursday, a military mom called into Johnson’s appearance on CSPAN and begged him to bring the House back to session to pass a standalone bill to provide military troops pay during the shutdown, saying her “kids could die” if her family experiences a lapse in pay on Oct. 15.

The National Military Family Association estimates that one in five military and veteran families are experiencing some level of food insecurity. Also, 25% of military families report having less than $500 in savings, the association found in its most recent report.

The next vote on clean House-passed funding bill in the Senate will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. ET — which will be Day 14 of the shutdown.

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow and Jay O’Brien contributed to this report.

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