Military families are hitting up food pantries as they brace for missed paychecks after President Donald Trump floated the possibility that some federal workers might not get paid during the government shutdown.
Service members got paid Oct. 1, but their families are stockpiling food and lining up potential loans in case their next paychecks don't arrive on Oct. 15 as scheduled, reported CNN.
“We should never put our troops in this position,” said one military spouse. “We should never put their families in this position. The economy for military spouses is tough enough as it is.”
Trump signed a law during the longest government shutdown in 2019 ensuring that federal workers would receive back pay during funding lapses, but his current Office of Management and Budget issued a new memo stating that Congress must decide whether to dole out paychecks covering those periods.
“There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said Tuesday during a White House event, but he backtracked a bit when asked about the law he signed. “I follow the law, and what the law says is correct.”
Military children have already had their after-school programs and activities – "even homework club," according to one parent – canceled by the funding lapse, which has created problems for parents trying to juggle work schedules with child care.
“We are out of the workforce in higher numbers because of the military lifestyle, not by choice,” said one military spouse. “So, we don’t have that cushion of a second income always. It’s not a guarantee.”
The organization overseeing Department of Defense schools has sent out guidance exempting extracurricular activities from the shutdown, allowing them to resume this week, but military families have had their routines disrupted and driven parents to wait in long lines at food pantries in case they go for extended periods without pay.
“Regardless of who is in office, I will always respect the office of the presidency,” said one military spouse, who also served in the armed forces. “However, I do feel like this presidency is failing us. I feel, instead of being united, we’re being divided, and I feel like supporting the troops should be a bipartisan issue, period.”
Another military spouse criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has publicly blamed Democrats for the shutdown, for ordering senior military leaders to travel at taxpayer expense from all over the globe to deliver a highly political message alongside the president.
“How are you going to bring all these top leaders in to talk about — ‘Hey, don’t be fat and shave’ — then the next day, the government shuts down?” that spouse said. “You are basically telling these people, ‘Okay, now you’re not going to get paid and you are going to get kicked out if you don’t shave.’”
Hegseth conceded that a prolonged shutdown could cut into some training exercises – which could cost service members paychecks and prevent them from maintaining necessary certifications – and families also fear a lengthy funding pause could impact the future for their children, especially older teens.
“Seniors need these activities for college applications, which are in full swing right now, and many kids earn scholarships for college from their sports performance,” said one military spouse. “Kids were counting on being recruited, and for some, that is their only path to college.”