As Democrats refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and Republicans stand by the inviolable filibuster, the Coast Guard isn’t getting funded. The lights are going out, and they don’t have the money to pay the bills. Markwayne Mullins, the new DHS secretary, spends his time trying to figure out how to pay them and keep the Coast Guard afloat.
Under new ownership, CBS News is finally reporting news. The lights suddenly went out at the Coast Guard, and it’s been a well-kept secret.
CBS News:
The U.S. Coast Guard cannot pay its bills. The military branch – now 75 days into the longest shutdown in U.S. history – owes over $300 million in unpaid obligations. And with thousands of utility bills overdue, totaling $5.2 million, duty stations and military housing worldwide are facing service shutdowns.
“It seems like a horror movie, but it’s actually happening. It’s almost unbelievable,” Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday told CBS News in an exclusive interview.
The Coast Guard commandant says power has been cut off to search-and-rescue stations.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Lunday. “I think the American people would be furious to know this is happening,” Lunday said. “We have over 6,000 utility bills that have been unpaid because DHS is not funded. And so, now we’re starting to see electricity, water, natural gas, and other services shut off that are impacting not only our operational units and bases where our people work but also starting to impact where people live.”
These crews have to be available at a moment’s notice. In most cases, the power has been turned back on, but for how long?
Due to an executive order, the salaries were paid temporarily, but by May 15th, they will once again go unpaid.
It’s More Than a Breach of Trust
“This is incredibly frustrating,” Lunday said. “In fact, I would say our workforce, our men and women and their families, are furious.”
“It’s more than a breach of trust,” the commandant continued. “Our Coast Guard men and women, whether they’re active duty or reserve military civilians, they’ve stepped forward and taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution. What they expect in return is just to be paid and provide services.” They don’t “expect to have to worry about whether their families are going to be taken care of,” Lunday added.
“So many of our spouses work on base. So they miss three and a half paychecks in a world where you need two paychecks,” Jessic Manfre, a Coast Guard spouse for 18 years, said. “That means sacrificing vacations, that means skimping, that means utilizing food pantries just to get by because those paychecks are suddenly all gone.”
Democrats don’t care. They want all deportations stopped, or this will go on forever. The Senate could drop the filibuster and get it done. Write your senators. Just Google the name and the word “contact”; it will come up. Read the full story at CBS News: Coast Guard operating in “crisis” as DHS shutdown halts pay in May, cuts power, strains missions overseas.
And thank a Democrat.