Last-minute scrambles for wages are taking a toll on military families during the shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is taking a heavy psychological 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 would see a therapist in large part because of the crushing uncertainty.

“I don’t feel like I have the tools to deal with this,” said Blevins, 33, who lives at Camp Lejeune, a Navy base near the North Carolina coast. “I don’t want to put all this on my husband. He has men to take charge of. He has enough to deal with.”

Although the Trump administration has found ways to pay troops twice since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the process has been fraught with anxiety for many Americans in uniform and their loved ones. Both times, they were left hanging until the last minute.

Four days before US troops were supposed to be paid on October 15, President Donald Trump instructed the Pentagon to use “all available funds” to ensure US troops were paid. As the next payday approached on Friday, the White House confirmed on Wednesday that it had found the money.

The Trump administration plans to move about $5.3 billion from various accounts, with about $2.5 billion coming from Trump’s large tax and spending cuts bill that was signed into law this summer.

But the demand in Washington to pay troops can only last so long.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the government will soon run out of ways to compensate the military, and that by Nov. 15, “troops will no longer be able to get paid.”

“We are not thought of at all.”

The uncertainty has fueled resentment among the families of nearly 2 million active duty personnel, members of the National Guard and reservists. There is a common saying that troops are used as pawns.

But Jennifer Bittner, whose husband is an Army officer, said that gives Congress too much credit.

“You have to be seen as being used as a pawn,” said Bittner, 43, of Austin, Texas. “And we are not thought of at all.”

Jennifer Bittner holds the inhaler for her 6-year-old daughter Amelia while wearing a vibrating CPT vest at her home in Pflugerville, Texas. Amelia is a carrier of cystic fibrosis, so the vest helps break up fluid and flush it out of her lungs and chest. Photo by Jack Mayer/AP Photo

Bittner’s 6-year-old daughter currently uses three inhalers because she has high-risk asthma, a chronic lung condition and a cold. Each device requires a $38 payment at the pharmacy. Bittner’s severely autistic son needs diapers that cost $200 a month, while she sometimes has to bargain with military insurance to cover the expense.

She’s worried about these costs on top of the mortgage and groceries for their family of five.

“It’s mentally and physically exhausting at times,” Bittner said of the prospect of her husband losing his paycheck, noting that members of Congress are still getting paid.

Many active duty soldiers live paycheck to paycheck and survive on just one income. Even when they get their paychecks, the shutdown deepens the financial pressures many families face, said Delia Johnson, director of operations at the nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network.

Johnson said October 15 paychecks arrived days later than they normally would for many people who had made early direct deposits into their bank accounts, disrupting their ability to pay bills on time and forcing some to pay late fees or rack up debt. Active duty troops may also be dealing with the added expense of moving from base to base, which she said happens to about 400,000 military families each year.

Many military spouses lose their jobs because of the move or suffer underemployment because of frequent relocations, Johnson said. Reimbursement for transportation costs is being paused for many during the lockdown, while not all expenses are being reimbursed.

Reservists lose their weekend pay

Monthly weekend training exercises for many reservists have also been cancelled, eliminating a significant portion of wages that can amount to several hundred dollars a month, military lawyers said. Besides help with mortgages and other bills, some reservists use drilling money to cover military health insurance premiums, said John Hashem, executive director of the American Reserve, an advocacy group.

“People depend on this money,” Hashim said about training fees. “The way this is being extended now, it’s almost as if service is being taken for granted.”

The reserve organization, along with other groups, urged leaders in Congress in a letter Tuesday to pass a measure to pay National Guard members and reservists.

Financial pressures exacerbated by the shutdown prompted the Military Family Advisory Network to create an emergency grocery support program this month. The non-profit organization said that 50,000 military families signed up for the service within 72 hours.

The food boxes were assembled at a warehouse in Houston by grocery and logistics company Umoja Health, and contain everything from pasta and spaghetti sauce to pancake mix and syrup, said Missy Hunter, chief marketing officer.

Blevins said she and her husband received a box, which provided him some peace of mind. Meanwhile, she said, her husband is still working, coming home exhausted and with a “long look” in his eyes.

The couple moved to North Carolina from Camp Pendleton in California in September, drawing on their savings. They are still waiting for nearly $9,000 in compensation.

“We’re constantly checking the news,” Blevins said. And my Facebook page is just “It’s the Democrats’ fault.” It’s the Republicans’ fault.’ And I say, can’t we get out of the blame game and take care of this?

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.