Federal workers receive partial pay as government shutdown nears third week

Federal workers on Friday received a partial paycheck that will be the last until the end of the US government shutdown, which appears set to stretch into a third week with no resolution in sight.

Government employees who were set to be paid for the period from 21 September through 4 October will not receive their salary for the days worked this month, since federal funding lapsed at the start of October.

In Congress, the two parties remained deadlocked over legislation to reopen the government, with Democrats insisting any funding deal include an array of healthcare-centered concessions. After holding eight unsuccessful votes on the parties’ spending bills, the Senate’s Republican leaders have put the chamber in recess until next Tuesday, meaning the standoff is unlikely to be resolved before then.

At a Friday-morning press conference, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, blasted Senate Democrats for not supporting a bill passed by his chamber on a near party-line vote to extend funding for seven weeks. If the government is not reopened by next Wednesday, US military personnel are set to miss a paycheck.

“This is the last paycheck that 700,000 federal workers will see until Washington Democrats decide to do their job and reopen the government,” Johnson said at a press conference on Friday morning.

“Starting next week, American service members, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, are going to miss a full paycheck. If Democrats don’t end this shutdown by Monday, then that October 15 date will pass us by.”

Johnson has kept the House out of session throughout the shutdown in an effort to pressure Senate Democrats into supporting the Republican funding proposal. Earlier this week, a group of House Democrats sent the speaker a letter asking him to allow a vote on legislation that would ensure US troops get paid during a shutdown, but Johnson has refused to bring lawmakers back to Washington.

The Senate has become a chokepoint in the funding battle because any legislation needs at least 60 votes to advance in the chamber. In exchange for their support, Democratic senators are demanding that premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act health plans be extended beyond their end-of-the-year expiration date.

They are also seeking safeguards against Donald Trump’s rescissions of congressionally approved funding, a restoration of money for public media outlets, and an undoing of cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for poor and disabled Americans.

Max Stier, president and CEO of the non-profit Partnership for Public Service, condemned the gridlock’s impact on government workers.

“It is wrong to make federal employees suffer because our leaders in Congress and the White House have failed to keep our government open and operational,” Stier said.

“Our air traffic controllers, VA nurses, smoke jumpers and food inspectors are not responsible for this government shutdown, and they shouldn’t bear the financial burden created by the failures of our elected officials. The irony is that members of Congress and senior White House leaders are continuing to be paid.”