Will a paycheck arrive? Shutdown leaves military families in limbo.

NORFOLK, Virginia – As the days ticked down to Oct. 15, military families in Hampton Roads, Virginia, eyed their bank accounts with growing apprehension.

That day, active duty military members were due for their mid-monthly paycheck. But amid an ongoing government shutdown, military families grappled with difficult financial decisions and wondered how they would make ends meet if an unresolved congressional disagreement 200 miles away in Washington, D.C., deprived them of pay.

“You’re literally counting down the minutes,” said Shalynn Pugh, 33, whose spouse is in the Navy. “You’re checking the news, you’re checking posts, you’re checking to see if anybody has any kind of update as to whether or not there’s actually going to be a paycheck waiting for us.”

Most military servicemembers, who are paid bimonthly, received their paychecks on Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began when Democrats in Congress voted down a Republican plan to keep the government funded.

But early in the week their mid-monthly paycheck, due on the 15th, was still mired in uncertainty.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” said Angela Sales, an Air Force reservist.

On the morning of Oct. 15, some active duty military members told USA Today their checks had come through. Others said they were still confused about the status of their pay. Some in the military’s reserve forces, and non-military employees of the Defense Department, said they knew they wouldn’t be paid – even though they would still be required to report to work as employees with jobs deemed essential to national security.

That afternoon, President Donald Trump said all active duty military personnel would recieve their paychecks. “We got the people that we want paid paid, and we want the FBI paid, we want the military paid,” he said.

The military’s next paycheck, due in two weeks, is still in the air. Rep. Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, said Trump’s direction to pay the troops on Oct. 15 “wasn’t permanent.” If the shutdown continues, “we know U.S. troops are going to risk missing a full paycheck at the end of this month,” he added.

Stress hangs over Norfolk Naval Base ahead of payday

Hampton Roads encompasses a cluster of cities that straddle the Chesapeake Bay, including Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach. It is home to more than 51,000 federal employees and 88,000 active duty military members, with many stationed at Norfolk Naval Base, the country’s largest Navy base.

On Oct. 13, a federal holiday, a stream of families filtered in and out of the Navy Exchange, an on-base shopping center that requires a military ID. Families and couples stocked their carts with canned goods and snacks and compared clothing fabrics. Many pulled small children in tow or pushed strollers stuffed with blankets and toys.

One was Pugh, who pushed her daughter in a stroller as she browsed the store aisles. Her spouse is set to rejoin the family within weeks after a stint in an education program on the other side of the country. Alone in Norfolk with three kids at home, Pugh stared down the approaching pay day with apprehension.

“You can’t predict when a car is going to break or you need a new washer or dryer,” she said. “That money does make or break us.”

She had considered looking into extra work like cleaning or babysitting. An extra $10 or $15, once just “pocket change” now adds up, she said. “Every penny has to be accounted for,” she said.

At the shopping center’s cafeteria, Angela and Jeremias Sales, 48, and their two children, 17 and 12, tucked into two shared styrofoam containers of lo mein noodles and chicken.

“We barely eat out,” said Angela Sales, an Air Force reservist. Sales said she’s already missing out on pay – she has yet to see a check for five days of work last month, including a cross-state trip to another military base.

“It’s hard having that unknown,” she said. “It’s half of our income.”

The stress is already rubbing off on the kids. Sales’ teenage daughter said she frets about whether the family won’t be able to afford a trip to New York for her track team’s national competition, plus a long-awaited vacation to Oregon with her fellow high school seniors to celebrate their graduation.

Sales said the family will likely make the difficult financial decision of tapping into their military retirement savings. “That’s our last resort,” she said.

Financial sacrifices, dilemmas loom

Norfolk military families said the shutdown had heightened the stakes of their financial choices, from comparison-shopping for the cheapest toilet paper to frequenting Costco to buy in bulk.

For some, those choices were particularly acute. Kevin Henderson, a non-military Defense Department employee, was scheduled to undergo neck surgery in early November. As an employee deemed essential for national security, he was working without a paycheck. Financial constraints may force him to push back the procedure and instead take on side work as an electrician.

“It’s out of my control,” said Henderson.

“I’m trying to stay optimistic,” said his wife, Heather, as she bounced her infant granddaughter on her knee, a baby bottle sitting among the couple’s unwrapped sandwiches. The couple still has one 12-year-old son at home – one of their adult sons, a Coast Guard member stationed in Portsmouth, was also watching the days tick down to mid-month payday.

“I can’t imagine having to go through this when we had all three of our boys at home,” she said.

The owner of a hair salon, Heather Henderson said she feared the economic toll of the shutdown on military-heavy Hampton Roads would eventually hurt her industry.

“I’m just hoping it doesn’t affect my job, but it probably will eventually,” she said. “Hair is not a necessity.”

Servicemembers in need look to community

Across the country, food banks have reported a surge as both servicemembers and government workers face uncertainty. In Norfolk, food banks have announced new distribution drives and community aid events.

Lena Hobbs, 34, said her church joined other local organizations to extend help to servicemembers in dire straights.

“That’s pretty much all you can do, is rely on your community,” she said.

Hobbs said a loan from Navy Federal was keeping the family – her husband, a Navy member of 15 years and their two children, nine and six years old – afloat. Other servicemembers also said loans from the credit union, which is offering interest-free loans amid the shutdown, was standing between them and financial hardship.

Earlier in their marriage, Hobbs said, a government shutdown might have rattled her, but now she knew to prepare and build up a buffer of savings.

“You just kind of get used to it,” she said. “It’s not an ‘if it’s going to happen,’ it’s a ‘when it’s going to happen.’”

Many Norfolk servicemembers and their families expressed frustration at Congressmembers. If politicians were denied their pay, many surmised, the shutdown would wrap up quickly. Lawmakers continue to draw a salary, even during shutdowns, according to the U.S. Constitution.

“The people that make these decisions, they’re not hurting for money, they’re still getting paid,” said Heather Henderson. “If they were being affected by this financially… maybe decisions would get made faster.”

Hobbs added: “It’s a little disgusting that our politicians play games with other people’s paychecks and not their own.”