SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8 / AP) – The government shutdown has been a humbling experience for many federal employees who are not receiving a paycheck.
Some have gone to desperate measures to just put food on the table.
Serving in the Coast Guard is a family affair for Waylon Haynie. He joined nearly 12 years ago and is currently on deployment. While he is away, his wife – Marisol – has been trying to make ends meet at home, but it has been a tough task especially when there is no paycheck coming in.
“I never thought this was going to happen. I never thought they would say, ‘ok, you are not paid,’” said Marisol.
Marisol’s husband is one of thousands of U.S. Coast Guard members that have been furloughed during the government shutdown. Currently, in between work Marisol has had to get creative to keep things going. “So far we are good, but we do not know how much longer we can keep our savings.”
While the shutdown lingers, several non-profits are stepping up to help Marisol and other families to fill the gap. She recently was able to get groceries at the San Diego Food Bank.
Marisol said she never thought it would get to this point, but she was moved that so many have been willing to help. In fact, she said it reminded her of this: “It shows us why my husband serves. We don’t do it for the government or a political party. We do it for our community.”
Marisol did have a message for lawmakers: “I would ask myself, what do you want? Do you want the political victory or the moral victory? Because what is going on is immoral. It’s not right to keep these families hungry – to keep them hostage.”
Senate leaders agreed to hold votes this week on dueling proposals to reopen shuttered federal agencies, forcing a political reckoning for senators grappling with the longest shutdown in U.S. history: Side with President Donald Trump or vote to temporarily end the shutdown and keep negotiating.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. set up the two showdown votes for Thursday, a day before some 800,000 federal workers are due to miss a second paycheck.
One vote will be on his own measure, which reflects Trump's offer to trade border wall funding for temporary protections for some immigrants. It was quickly rejected by Democrats. The second vote is set for a bill approved by the Democratic-controlled House reopening government through Feb. 8, with no wall money, to give bargainers time to talk.
Both measures are expected fall short of the 60 votes need to pass, leaving little hope they represent the clear path out of the mess. But the plan represents the first test of Senate Republicans' resolve behind Trump's insistence that agencies remain closed until Congress approves $5.7 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. For Democrats, the votes will show whether there are any cracks in the so-far unified rejection of Trump's demand.
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