Federal workers fret over their finances: “No pay has me anxious”

Federal workers who are either furloughed or required to keep working without pay during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown express concern about the impact on their finances, their colleagues and the American public.

Roughly 750,000 of the more than 2 million federal workers are furloughed during the government closure, which began on Oct. 1, when Congress failed to agree on a spending bill, leading to the first lapse in funding in nearly seven years.

Here is what three federal workers — who shared their personal views with CBS News and were not speaking on behalf of their respective agencies — describe as their biggest concerns as the shutdown continues. 

“No pay has me anxious”

James Kirwan, an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the legislative affairs director for the agency’s union, is currently furloughed and does not expect to be paid until lawmakers resolve the dispute and pass a government funding bill. 

“No pay has me anxious because none of us have any idea how long the shutdown is going to go on for. It could be weeks, or it could be a short shutdown,” Kirwan, who has been with the NLRB for three years, told CBS News. “The longer it gets, the more debt people will have to incur to survive during the interim period.”

“It’s certainly scary, especially for federal workers making under $50,000 a year, and for federal contractors who have no guarantee of backpay whatsoever under the law,” he added. 

Kirwan, 31, said that if the shutdown drags on for weeks or months, he would likely have to lean on credit cards to afford the basics, and perhaps take out a loan for any larger expenses. 

“Like many Americans, I have very little in the way of emergency funds and savings, and I know I would not be able to hold on if it’s a very long shutdown,” he told CBS News. 

Kirwan, who said he had aspired to work in government since his youth, also emphasized his commitment to public service despite the political turmoil. 

“While taking on that additional debt and loans is certainly painful, if it results in jobs and my agency being saved and strengthened, I’ll take that deal any day,” he said. 

Asked for comment regarding government workers’ concerns about the impact of the shutdown on their finances, the White House blamed congressional Democrats for the stalemate. 

“The Trump Administration is encouraging the Democrats to stop the pain and reopen the government with the bipartisan funding proposal they supported just six months ago and 13 times under Biden — but Chuck Schumer thinks every day of the shutdown ‘gets better.’ How dismissive to countless Americans struggling because of his party’s decision,”  White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to CBS News. 

The office for Schumer, the Senate minority leader and a Democrat from New York, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. 

The Republic National Committee and Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the impact of the shutdown on federal workers. 

“People aren’t able to get justice”

MT Snyder, who also works for the NLRB as a field examiner and is a member of the agency’s union, said the shutdown is hampering the board’s efforts to investigate employee claims of unfair labor practices and other workplace disputes.

“Everything is stopped, so workers who were illegally fired don’t have any recourse because there is nowhere else to go beside the NLRB,” Snyder, whose work involves investigating such complaints, told CBS News. “So it’s really frustrating that I am not able to do my job, and people aren’t able to get justice.” 

Snyder, 30, also said the uncertainty around when she can return to work amounts to a “huge psychological toll” that weighs on her and other government employees.

“As federal workers, we don’t have any say. We are not in Congress making choices, but we get the outcome of it and feel those effects,” she told CBS News. 

The NLRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a notice posted on the agency’s website on Sept. 30, before the shutdown began, the NLRB stated that unfair labor practice hearings scheduled for Oct. 1 or later would be postponed indefinitely. 

“There is a moral injury”

Another federal employee — who works for the Department of Veterans Affairs but who didn’t want to be identified by name because she fears potential retribution — is among those employees who is still on the job during the shutdown. 

She expects to be paid on time because her department has already allocated funds for her position, but also said the shutdown is further sapping workers’ morale.

“We deserve job security, dignity and respect, and this just feels like an extension of what was already occurring,” she said, referring to the mass government layoffs that have taken place under the Trump administration. “It is not a good way to live, and there is a moral injury that comes with being a federal worker right now. People are stressed.”

Like Kirwan, however, she also underlined her belief in the value of government service. “In no way am I considering leaving the federal government. I entered to retire from the federal government and I intend to do just that.”