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The government shutdown is taking a huge mental toll on the nation’s military families, leaving them not knowing from week to week whether their paychecks will arrive.
Alicia Blevins, whose husband is a Marine, said she’s been seeing a therapist largely because of the overwhelming uncertainty.
“I don’t think I have the tools to deal with it,” said Blevins, 33, who lives at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base. North CarolinaCoast of. “I don’t want to put all this on my husband. He’s got people he’s in charge of. He’s got a lot to deal with.”
Even though the Trump administration has found ways to pay troops twice as much since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the process is fraught with anxiety for many. Americans In uniform and their loved ones. Both times, he was left hanging till the last moment.
Salary check was to be issued four days ago on October 15, President donald trump Instructed the Pentagon to use “all available funds” to ensure payment to American troops. As the next pay day approaches on Friday, white House confirmed on Wednesday that it had received the money.
The Trump administration plans to move about $5.3 billion from various accounts, with about $2.5 billion coming from Trump’s massive tax and spending cut bill, which was signed into law this summer.
but look inside Washington Because military pay can only last so long.
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the government would soon run out of ways to compensate the military and that troops “will not be able to get paid” by Nov. 15.
‘We are not being thought about at all’
The uncertainty is fueling anger among the families of nearly 2 million active duty service members, National Guard members and reservists. There is a common perception that the soldiers are being used as pawns.
But Jennifer Bittner, whose husband is an Army officer, said that gives Congress too much credit.
“You have to think about being used as a pawn,” said Bittner, 43, of Austin, Texas. “And we’re not being thought about at all.”
Bittner’s 6-year-old daughter is currently using three inhalers because she has high-risk asthma, chronic lung disease and a cold. The pharmacy requires a payment of $38 per device. Bittner’s severely autistic son requires diapers that cost $200 a month, while she sometimes has to contend with military insurance to cover the expense.
She’s worried about those costs as well as the mortgage and groceries for a family of five.
“There’s a mental and sometimes physically exhausting stress about this,” Bittner said of not receiving her husband’s pay check, while she said members of Congress are still getting paid.
Many active duty soldiers live paycheck to paycheck and survive on only one income. Even when they get paid, the shutdown is deepening the financial stress facing many families, said Delia Johnson, chief operating officer of the nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network.
The Oct. 15 pay checks came just days after many people received early direct deposits into their bank accounts, Johnson said, hampering their ability to pay bills on time and forcing some to pay late fees or take out loans. Active duty soldiers may also have to deal with the added expense of moving from one base to another, which he said happens to about 400,000 military families each year.
And many military spouses lose their jobs because of the move or become underemployed because of frequent transfers, Johnson said. Reimbursement for relocation costs has been put on hold for many during the shutdown, while not all expenses are being paid.
Reservists are losing weekend drill pay.
Monthly weekend exercises for many reservists have also been canceled, eliminating a portion of pay that could amount to several hundred dollars each month, military advocates said. In addition to helping with mortgages and other bills, drill money is used by some reservists to cover premiums for military health insurance, said John Hashem, executive director of the Reserve Organization of America, an advocacy group.
“People rely on that money,” Hashem said of drill pay. “The way it’s spreading right now, it’s almost like service is taken for granted.”
The reserve organization, along with other groups, urged congressional leaders in a letter Tuesday to pass a measure to pay National Guard members and reservists.
The increased financial stress from the shutdown prompted the Military Family Advisory Network to set up an emergency grocery assistance program this month. The nonprofit said 50,000 military families signed up within 72 hours.
Chief marketing officer Missy Hunter said the meal boxes were assembled in a Houston warehouse by grocery and logistics company Umoja Health, and contained everything from noodles and spaghetti sauce to pancake mix and syrup.
Blevins said she and her husband received a box, which provided peace of mind. Meanwhile, she said, her husband is still working, coming home tired and with a “long look” in his eyes.
The couple pulled out their savings and moved from Camp Pendleton, California, to North Carolina in September. They are still waiting to be reimbursed about $9,000.
“We are continuing to investigate reports,” Blevins said. “And my Facebook feed is nothing but ‘It’s the Democrats’ fault. It’s the Republicans’ fault.’ And I’m just like, can’t we stop the blame game and just focus on this?’
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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.