Trump’s move to fund military paychecks during shutdown comes as families face strain and uncertainty
By Jeff Zeleny, CNN
Norfolk, Virginia (CNN) — Bashtye Bailey stood beneath the warm October sun at a food bank for military families near Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base. She waited her turn for a supply of fresh vegetables, chicken and eggs.
A Navy wife and a veteran herself, Bailey was already making plans to not receive their paycheck on Wednesday, a fear that was threatening to become such a political liability that President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered the Defense Department to find other funds to ensure military pay continues next week.
“We’ve already cut back on certain things and certain expenses,” said Bailey, who added that her husband’s paycheck is often just enough to get by.
The government shutdown is the latest whipsaw for members of the military and federal employees after a tumultuous year punctuated by layoffs, furloughs and job reassignments. The paychecks for some civilian employees stopped arriving Friday, with 1.3 million active-duty military members set to follow this week unless Trump’s action takes effect.
The looming threat of missed paychecks had not yet forced Congress and the White House to reach a compromise to reopen the government when Trump said Saturday that the administration “identified funds” to pay military troops on October 15.
The funds for military paychecks will be pulled from the Pentagon’s research and development money that’s available for two years, according to a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget. A growing bipartisan group of lawmakers has been unsuccessfully urging congressional leaders to pass a standalone measure to pay troops during the shutdown.
Strains of anger and anxiety echo throughout conversations in southeastern Virginia, where the US government is an economic lifeblood for the Hampton Roads region, with 85,000 active-duty military, 58,000 federal civilian workers and countless government contractors.
Here, about 200 miles south of the nation’s capital, the immediate fallout is more practical than political. The arguments over rising health care premiums and whether Trump and Republicans or Democrats deserve more blame as the shutdown drags on are overshadowed by the economic concerns of the community.
“You’ll be able to see it on Main Street here fairly soon,” said Bob McNab, a professor of economics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. “Your neighbor or your neighbor’s neighbor is probably not getting paid. And that just manifests itself in pain pretty quickly and intensely.”
McNab said roughly $4 out of every $10 spent in the region is directly or indirectly related to the federal government. The economic pain of a monthlong shutdown could be at least $1 billion if workers receive back pay, he said, but considering many government contractors will not, the costs will likely be far higher.
“If they’re not reimbursed, we’re back into potential losses amounting to billions if the shutdown lasts five weeks or longer,” McNab said. “There is a true ripple effect.”
Living paycheck to paycheck
Richard Maigue is already frying up fewer smashburgers at Kitchenfinity, a cozy restaurant that he and his wife own just outside the Naval Station. A steady stream of uniformed and civilian diners stopped in for lunch on a recent afternoon, but Maigue worries business will slow if payday doesn’t come on Wednesday.
“I don’t know if they go paycheck to paycheck, but I think it’s part of life that they’re trying to get by,” Maigue said. “Everyone needs to eat, but they could probably try to cut corners somewhere.”
Maricen Corrales, who opened the restaurant with her husband two years ago, said she worries about her regular customers who are enduring hardships because of the shutdown. But she also fears for the fate of her own small business, already facing high costs for the price of food and other supplies.
“Tomorrow, we don’t know … how we’ll be able to survive if we don’t have any customers coming in,” she said. “But either way, we’re still going to provide the great service and food for as long as we can.”
Trump said ‘don’t worry about it’
Earlier this month the president visited the region, where he spoke to thousands of sailors aboard the USS George H.W. Bush to mark the Navy’s 250th anniversary. Trump offered a promise during his hourlong speech, saying: “We will get our service members every last penny. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.”
The next day, there was plenty of worry among those standing in line at a mobile food bank for military families.
“We get paid every two weeks, so if we don’t get paid after that, it can start to become a real stressful situation and a real struggle,” said Kady Frazier, who is bracing to miss the family’s paycheck this week. “I don’t really understand why it keeps happening and why we can’t just keep the government up and running.”
Frazier, who is married to a Navy technician, was holding one of her children as she waited to step into the Hunger Heroes mobile market, a program of the Food Bank of Southeast Virginia and the Eastern Shore. Organizers are preparing for increased demand as the shutdown drags on.
“We definitely anticipate there will be more need if the government shutdown goes on longer,” said Mallory Rackling, communications director for the food bank. “When the 2018 shutdown lasted about 35 days, our lines increased significantly. A lot of people were coming to us for the first time.”
The last government shutdown, which lasted for more than a month during the first Trump administration, is still etched in the minds of many military families. As Bailey waited her turn for vegetables, chicken and eggs, she said she is suddenly reliving that period as she counts down the days until her family’s paycheck goes missing again.
“It was very stressful,” Bailey said. “I pray that it doesn’t roll into those many days this time around.”
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