After missed paychecks, Coast Guard families ready for shutdown to end

RIVERVIEW, Fla. (FOX 13) - With a missed paycheck under their belt, thousands of Coast Guard workers and their families are growing restless.

Ginny Palm, whose husband has been in the Coast Guard for 13 years, said her family is dipping into their savings in order to make ends meet.

"We do live paycheck to paycheck," said Palm, who offered a laundry-list of bills that are piling up.

Negotiations between President Trump and congressional leaders show little progress and people like Palm feel they are the ones paying the price.

"It's very hard, I think its gotten to a point where it's not about politics anymore," said Palm, "it's not about what side you're on."

The U.S. Coast Guard's commandant, Admiral Karl Schultz, tweeted yesterday that workers would not be getting paid January 15, adding that it's "the first time in our nation’s history that service members in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in appropriations."

The government has approved back pay for all workers who have been furloughed or forced to work without pay.

Palm said her husband has been working his regular schedule.

"I'm taking it day by day," she added.