A dozen lawmakers led by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) urged President Trump on Friday to ensure US Coast Guard members get paid amid the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.
“[M]ore than 41,000 active duty and activated Reserve Coast Guard members face the very real possibility of missing their next scheduled payday on February 27 if the Department of Homeland Security does not receive appropriations,” Malliotakis and 12 other congressional lawmakers in districts with a significant US Coast Guard presence wrote in a letter to Trump.
“The Coast Guard is an essential branch of our armed services, and its members should never be used as leverage in partisan disputes,” the letter continued.
“It is deeply concerning that Coast Guard personnel are being placed in this position due to political brinkmanship by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other Democratic leaders who are choosing to play politics with our homeland security.”
The lawmakers called on Trump to “once again use every authority at your disposal to ensure that these dedicated servicemembers do not miss a paycheck.”
“These brave men and women have faithfully upheld their oath to serve this country without hesitation, and they deserve a government that upholds its obligation to them,” the letter demands.
Federal funding for DHS lapsed on Feb. 14 after Congress failed to come to an agreement on a long-term spending bill for the department.
While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) remain funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are among the other agencies within DHS that are currently cash-strapped.
Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) airport security screeners are also impacted by the shutdown but won’t miss their first paychecks until mid-March, according to Politico.
“[W]e have FEMA workers, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, men and women of TSA, who keep our airports moving, who will be working without paychecks for no good reason other than the Democrats wanting to pick a fight with Donald Trump,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week.
“And the president thinks that’s irresponsible and despicable. He wants the government to be open.”
Over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) signaled that he wouldn’t back legislation to end the partial government shutdown unless “three basic objectives to rein in ICE” are agreed to by Republicans.
Those three objectives include ending the Trump administration’s roving ICE patrols, stronger accountability for immigration enforcement officers, and barring ICE officers from wearing masks.
Schumer has been negotiating with the White House on a deal to fund DHS while House lawmakers have been out of town on a one-week recess.
The latest lapse in federal funding is the third government shutdown within the past three months.
Amid the record-long, 43-day government shutdown last fall, Trump ordered the Pentagon to tap into various accounts to ensure service members received their paychecks.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
