(The Center Square) — A group of New York Republican lawmakers are urging President Donald Trump to make federal funding available to pay tens of thousands of Coast Guard members as the partial government shutdown grinds on into a second week.
In a letter to Trump, New York Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Claudia Tenney lead a group of other GOP lawmakers in calling on the president to use his executive authority “to ensure that these dedicated service members do not miss a paycheck” amid the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Coast Guard is an essential branch of our armed services, and its members should never be used as leverage in partisan disputes,” they wrote. “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.”
Democrats in Congress have blocked passage of a Homeland Security funding bill over President Trump’s immigration crackdown and alleged abuses and claims of heavy-handed tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis. The partial shutdown got underway Feb. 14.
Because of the lapse in funding, DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Secret Service and Coast Guard will not get paid at the end of the week, officials said.
About 90% of DHS workers are deemed essential, which means they need to show up for work during a shutdown even if they don’t get paid. There are more than 41,000 active Coast Guard members, according to the Trump administration.
During last year’s 43-day government shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Coast Guard members would still be getting their paychecks despite a lapse in funding. At the time, the federal agency tapped into funding from Trump’s newly minted One Big Beautiful Bill Act to avoid payment gaps for Coast Guard personnel.
“We face another troubling situation,” Malliotakis and other lawmakers wrote to the president. “As a result of the current partial government shutdown, members of the United States Coast Guard — who serve under the Department of Homeland Security — are once again working without pay.”
“These dedicated men and women continue to carry out critical homeland security missions,” they wrote. “They safeguard our shores, secure our ports, interdict illegal narcotics, protect our maritime borders, and conduct lifesaving search-and-rescue operations with the courage and professionalism that have long defined this proud branch of our Armed Forces.”
