Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.
Trump’s shutdown is denying paychecks for service members in the American military for the first time in American history. It is already the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
In a letter to members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Karl Schultz, who serves as the service’s commandant, took note of the alarming milestone.
“To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations.”
The shutdown, Schultz noted, is causing service members and their families “anxiety and uncertainty.” He went on to make members aware of a donation from USAA to people in need, a depressing development for a country with billions of dollars at its disposal.
But that money isn’t getting to the Americans who need it because Trump and Republicans are holding the government hostage for his unnecessary wall.
Concluding his letter, Schultz references the civilian workforce of the Coast Guard who are “already adjusting to a missed paycheck.”
Over 800,000 federal employees aren’t being paid because of Trump’s shutdown, hurting them, their families, and the businesses who rely on them. Museums and the National Zoo are closed, and garbage and human waste are piling up to unmanageable levels at national parks.
Trump’s shutdown is a disaster, and Americans have said loudly the situation needs to be remedied.
And now those who are sworn to protect America, like the Coast Guard, which defends the country on sea and land, is being stiffed.
Trump and his fellow Republicans can stop this abuse of America’s military. They just choose not to.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
