President Donald Trump signed a bill Thursday to fund the Department of Homeland Security, including the U.S. Coast Guard, after a 76-day partial government shutdown.
The signing came hours after the House passed Senate-approved legislation to fund the department. The bill funds DHS agencies that are not involved in Trump’s immigration crackdown through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The passage will allow the Coast Guard to resume non-emergency operations and maintenance, which were halted during the 11-week lapse in funding.
On Tuesday, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday told lawmakers that Coast Guard members and civilians were facing “severe hardship” because of the uncertainty about their paychecks.
Active-duty service members have continued to receive paychecks during the shutdown as a result of funding shifts, but the Coast Guard could not pay some of its bills, including electricity bills for its 6,000 family housing units. In the past week, some Coast Guard families have had their electricity shut off.
Coasties scheduled to move this summer also have mounting credit debt as a result of restrictions on advanced pay for travel.
The Coast Guard’s civilian employees — who number nearly 10,000 — went without a full paycheck from Feb. 16 through early April, when Trump signed an emergency order to pay them. That emergency funding was set to run out this week.
“Our total workforce has spent a majority of this fiscal year operating under uncertainty, fear and anger caused by a lapse of appropriations,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Phil Waldron said during a hearing Tuesday on the Coast Guard budget.
Nikki Wentling is a senior editor at Military Times. She's reported on veterans and military communities for nearly a decade and has also covered technology, politics, health care and crime. Her work has earned multiple honors from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors and others.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
