US Gov Workers Shutdown: 800,000 lose their paychecks

As the US Government shutdown approaches its fifth week, federal employees are caught between a wall and a hard place.

Watch Above: Trump's border tearing families apart.

President Donald Trump wants US$5.7 billion to fund a border wall to keep out undocumented immigrants and “criminals.” Democrats in Congress say the wall is a waste of money that wouldn’t solve any of America’s actual immigration programs.

Caught between the two sides are about 800,000 federal workers whose agencies are affected by the partial government shutdown. And although it started about five weeks ago, Jan. 11 marked a significant milestone: It was the first time affected workers won’t get their paychecks.

Who's affected by the shutdown?

Overall, the federal government directly employs over 2 million people.

Most of them work for departments such as Defense, Education and Labor that remain open because Congress passed spending bills fully funding what they do. About a quarter of the federal government – including the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Agriculture – has no new funding, leaving 800,000 workers in the lurch.

About 380,000 have been furloughed without pay, while 420,000 are deemed essential and have to report for work. However, these essential workers are not being paid either.

Government workers protest the shutdown in Ogden, Utah. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

So what’s the big deal if these workers don’t get a single paycheck?

The problem is many Americans both in and out of government live paycheck to paycheck. Estimates range anywhere from one-third to more than three-quarters make ends meet every two weeks.

Going without a paycheck for a few weeks is hard enough. If the shutdown lasts months or years – as Trump has threatened – the situation could get very dire for the average government worker.

And while Congress is required to eventually pay those who worked during the shutdown, there’s no guarantee that it will pay workers that it forcibly furloughed.

While it’s hard to know when this shutdown might end, the good news is that Congress tends to give all affected workers back-pay, regardless of whether they worked during the impasse. That’s what happened in 2013, when lawmakers unanimously approved paying everyone back.

The bad news is that 800,000 workers are caught in the middle of a political dispute over a wall. And in simple terms, the government is taking a no-interest loan from these workers as they seek (or not) to resolve it.

Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.