Federal workers won't see a check for weeks
The Environmental Protection Agency is winding down operations this week as the partial U.S. government shutdown drags on, out of cash to keep the federal agency running. The Smithsonian has closed, locking up the National Portrait Gallery, American History Museum, Air and Space Museum, African American Museum and more than 10 other institutions. The Department of Agriculture also is closing offices that offer loans to farmers, while the Coast Guard will suspend boating safety checks and ship maintenance. Even the National Zoo's popular pandacam is switched off.
With some 10 agencies mostly dormant since Dec. 22, that means hundreds of thousands of government employees around the U.S. face the anxiety of carrying on with their lives without a paycheck.
"We're getting very close to the point where people will be missing their paychecks," said Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents about 110,000 federal workers.
"We had federal employees who were literally taking Christmas presents that were wrapped and ready to give, and taking them back to the store. They were hunkering down for lean times," Erwin added.
In the past, Congress has retroactively paid federal workers after shutdowns. But because the current pay period is nearly over, even if a deal were reached Thursday, federal workers likely won't see that money until late January, said an official with AFGE, the largest federal workers' union.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/federal-workers-wont-see-a-check-for-weeks/ar-BBRKWJB?li=BBnbfcL
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