{"id":206187,"date":"2026-04-02T04:42:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/coast-guard-and-other-dhs-workers-still-not-being-paid-ask-what-about-us-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:42:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:42:43","slug":"coast-guard-and-other-dhs-workers-still-not-being-paid-ask-what-about-us-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/coast-guard-and-other-dhs-workers-still-not-being-paid-ask-what-about-us-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard and other DHS workers still not being paid ask, 'What about us?' – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As word spread through the federal bureaucracy Monday that Transportation Security Administration workers were getting some back pay, a collective gloom descended on a Coast Guard administrative office, a Coast Guard worker, who asked not to be identified told NBC News.
Like the TSA agents who man security checkpoints at airports across the U.S., thousands of civilian Coast Guard workers have also been working without pay during the more than a monthlong partial government shutdown.
\u201cDon’t get me wrong, we’re very happy for the TSA workers,\u201d the worker said. \u201cAs soon as we heard they were being paid, there was all kinds of chatter in the office. There was certainly some, I would say, big feelings among the staff. But what we were feeling, more than anything, was forgotten.\u201d
Nobody, the worker said, is coming to their rescue.
Facing a nationwide backlash from both TSA workers and frustrated air travelers, President Donald Trump last week ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay the TSA workers what they were owed.
But Trump\u2019s order was just a temporary fix for the TSA workers and did not cover the thousands of other DHS staffers who have also been required to show up for work even though they are not being paid.
The group includes civilian Coast Guard workers, Federal Emergency Management Agency workers, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency employees.
On Sunday, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees slammed Congress for leaving Washington for the Easter\/Passover break without reaching an agreement on funding DHS.
\u201cI have never been more disgusted by the failure of elected leadership in my life,\u201d AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement<\/a>.
\u201cCongress left them without a paycheck and went on a two-week paid vacation on our dime,\u201d he said.
The Coast Guard worker who spoke with NBC News said even though they knew their TSA colleagues were about to get some back pay, it was still jarring when it happened on Monday.
While Coast Guard military workers have been getting paid throughout the shutdown, the last full paycheck their civilian counterparts received was on Feb. 16, and they received a partial paycheck on March 2, according to the Coast Guard.<\/a>
\u201cWe didn\u2019t even get a half payment on March 2,\u201d the worker said via email. \u201cPayroll paid half of our gross salary with full deductibles. So our net pay was LESS than half. And nothing since then.\u201d
How have they been surviving without a steady paycheck?
\u201cMany of our banks have offered interest-free loans,\u201d the worker said. \u201cCGMA (Coast Guard Mutual Assistance) is offering help. But sometimes being told to go look up those resources sounds like our leaders are telling us to go away or that they aren\u2019t sure how to help. And I get it, none of us are prepared for this. It\u2019s just awful.\u201d
Some of the Coast Guard civilian workers are moonlighting.
\u201cAt least in my line of work, they have to apply for permission for outside employment and it\u2019s a whole process to make sure the outside job doesn\u2019t conflict with their regular duties,\u201d the worker said.
But there are some workers who are looking to get out of the Coast Guard altogether, although reluctantly, because most are proud to work for the Coast Guard.
\u201cWe are all looking for new jobs,\u201d the worker said. \u201cRight now I have a whole spreadsheet of IOUs to people who have been helping me through this, and I have no idea how long we\u2019re going to be working without pay. So I am looking, too. I don\u2019t want to leave, but I have no choice.\u201d
Asked what kind of support it is providing for its civilian workers, the Coast Guard\u2019s chief spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Steve Roth, sent a link to a shutdown resources page <\/a>for workers.
\u201cThe Coast Guard cannot provide assurances, nor comment on pending legislation,\u201d Roth said in an email.
The crisis started in February after Republicans rebuffed repeated demands by Democrats, angered by the killings of two Americans in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, to rein in two agencies that are also part of DHS, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The two sides were unable to come up with an agreement by the funding deadline, resulting in the shutdown of DHS.
The Trump administration and Republicans have blamed the Democrats for the plight of the TSA and other DHS workers.
Democrats have accused the Trump administration and Republicans of using DHS workers as political pawns to avoid making changes to ICE policies that Americans are demanding.
Trump last week stepped in with a Band-Aid solution for struggling TSA workers. But his order didn\u2019t apply to other essential DHS workers.
Cameron Cochems, Idaho regional vice president for AFGE TSA Local 1127, has been using his position as a union leader to speak out about the shutdown as many federal workers are worried about putting their jobs at risk by speaking publicly. Though he is a TSA worker, Cochems hopes it brings attention to other federal employees in the same situation.
“The TSA is just the easiest like thing to look at, you know, and when I speak about these things, I feel like I’m also trying to speak on behalf of them, too,” Cochems said. “As other federal employees, I think of them as my co-workers.”
There’s no clarity on what will happen for future TSA paychecks, but the airport in Boise, Idaho, where Cochems works has stopped the food bank and gift card programs as if the shutdown has ended. But the back pay did not resolve the financial struggles many of his co-workers have gone through, Cochems said.
Some of Cochems’ colleagues are still actively looking for other jobs, and at least one has to find a new place to live after her landlord refused to re-sign her lease after missed rent payments, he said. Cochems described it as a “traumatic” experience with lasting emotional damage.
“It was really hard, not knowing when your next paycheck was going to be, having what felt like the whole country looking at you guys with, like, a week’s notice,” Cochems said. “Going from the people that no one even looks at the airport to being center stage, I thought that was just such a crazy experience.”
A TSA worker who just collected his first paycheck in more than a month told NBC News that he feels bad for the unpaid Coast Guard and other DHS workers but that there isn\u2019t public pressure to help them because \u201cthey don\u2019t have a public-facing role.\u201d
\u201cI think the only reason we got paid was just for optics, because it was starting to look really bad,\u201d said the TSA worker, who, like the Coast Guard worker, asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
The scarcity of TSA workers and the long lines of frustrated travelers trying to get through airport security checkpoints were visible reminders of the ongoing crisis to the American public, he said.
\u201cAnd the lines were getting just egregious in some of these cities,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think this was just a patchwork to kind of help with the court of public opinion, more so than earnestly wanting us to, like, be OK.\u201d
Another TSA worker, this one based in Indiana, said he is grateful that he got his back pay, but said that paying them was “just quieting down the loudest part of the problem.”
The TSA worker said the money he received was barely enough to pay some of his bills and that he estimates that by April 10 he’ll be out of money again.
Meanwhile, he’s hoping a deal to fund DHS will be reached before he has to make some hard decisions about his family’s future. And he’s reading the political tea leaves as best as he can.
“I\u2019ve never had a job where I have to try to connect the news and internal memos and rumors like they\u2019re puzzle pieces just to figure out if I can keep my house,\u201d he said.
Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she\/her.
Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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