Despite a one-time emergency payment to U.S. Coast Guard members two weeks ago, the money has run out.

Adm. Karl Schultz, the Coast Guard commandant, tweeted Tuesday that the Coast Guard would not be receiving their regularly scheduled mid-month paycheck.

"To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in government appropriations," Schultz wrote.

Schultz said he recognizes the "anxiety and uncertainty" Coast Guard members are feeling and shared that Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, a nonprofit that assists members in financial need, received a $15 million donation from USAA, a financial services group that supports the military community and their families. The American Red Cross will also assist in distributing funds to military and civilian members in need.

The commandant said he was grateful for the support shown to the Coast Guard.

"The strength of our Service has, and always will be, our people. You have proven time and again the ability to rise above adversity. Stay the course, stand the watch, and serve with pride. You are not, and will not, be forgotten," he wrote in his letter to Coast Guard members.

On Dec. 31, the Coast Guard doled out a one-time emergency payment to approximately 42,000 active duty service members. The Department of Homeland Security, which the Coast Guard is a part of, is not funded during the partial government shutdown, which is in its fourth week and is the longest-running shutdown in history. Coast Guard members have had to work without pay, unlike members in other branches of the U.S. military that fall under the Defense Department, which already has funding approved.

The Coast Guard warned members in a Dec. 28 post on the Coast Guard All Hands blog that the one-time emergency payment would not guarantee a paycheck Jan. 15.

"Meeting active duty and reserve military payroll for January 2019 will require a fiscal year 2019 appropriation, a continuing resolution, or passage of an alternative measure," the blog post said.

Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate seeking to fund the Coast Guard if the shutdown persists.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted Tuesday that she is working with the White House and Congress to pass legislation to reinstate funding for the Coast Guard.</s>The nation's 42,000 active-duty Coast Guard members missed their scheduled paycheck Tuesday, as the only military branch to work without pay during the government shutdown.

Because the Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security, it is getting no funding during the shutdown. All other parts of the military are under the still-funded Department of Defense.

Coast Guard members, reservists and retirees received checks on Dec. 31 as part of a short-term solution that gave them the remainder of their pay and allowances for December.

But that quick fix did not extend to the Jan. 15 pay period.

Active-duty Coast Guard members continue to work without pay on essential operations "that provide for national security or that protect life and property during partial government shutdowns," such as search-and-rescue, securing the nation's ports and coastlines, other law enforcement duties and environmental response.

A bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress on Jan. 4, the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, which would allow members of the Coast Guard, civilian employees, and contractors to be paid throughout the remainder of the shutdown.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., one of the bill's sponsors, said in a statement that "hundreds of thousands of federal employees and their families are being harmed by the partial government shutdown."

"This situation is especially unfair for those who must work without pay, including members of the Coast Guard who continue to perform critical national security and lifesaving duties without knowing when they will receive their next paycheck," she said.

The Department of Homeland Security is working on another solution, "a narrow legislative fix," to pay active-duty Coast Guard so there is parity between them and other military branches, a Homeland Security official told NBC News Monday night.

In the interim, families of active-duty members as well as of civilian Coast Guard workers who have been furloughed have looked toward other forms of support. The shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history with no end in sight.

The East Bay Coast Guard Spouses Club held a food drive Sunday in Alameda, California, for Coast Guard members, dependents, and civilian workers who have been furloughed. Club member Nicole Lauer told NBC News about 186 families came.

Lauer said the event was uplifting and families were grateful to not have to spend what little money they may have on grocery items.

Donations were made from businesses across Alameda, which has a base and is considered a Coast Guard city. In addition to essentials such as food, baby formula and diapers, items such as laundry detergent and razors were also popular at the drive, as members must maintain regulation standards for their uniforms and appearance, Lauer said.

"We actually have another food bank happening on Wednesday," Lauer told NBC News. "Our mission as a club is that we will do this however long we need to do this, and we’ve received the support from Alameda that they will have our back as long as we have to."

Emily Garris, the wife of an active-duty member stationed in Alameda, told NBC News she worries about about her own family's financial situation and all the other families in the Coast Guard as well. Her family is fine for the time being, but has been careful about spending since the shutdown began.

"My daughter’s 16th birthday is next week and we just had Christmas," Garris told NBC News. "We want to make it special for her, but we also don’t want to spend a lot of money either."

Garris said that while many Coast Guard families are feeling discouraged by the ongoing shutdown, the local community's response has in contrast inspired appreciation and gratitude.

"I've had several moms of my kid’s friends call and say, 'We’re here for you. What can we do, anything that you guys need we’ll do it,'" Garris told NBC News. "The Congress can’t get their act together. The president can’t get their act together, but your community will take care of you."

She never thought the situation would go on for this long, Garris said, but she also feels there's a limit to what people can handle. Some people may eventually begin to wonder if they should try to leave and find new jobs, Garris said.

"It’s really up to the leaders, Congress and the president, to really hammer this out and get something done," Garris told NBC News. "I feel like we’ve done all we can and it’s totally in their hands now."

Congress passed a bill Friday to retroactively pay federal workers and Coast Guard members, but it would not go into affect until after the shutdown ends.</s>A university in Rhode Island is offering a free dinner for U.S. Coast Guard members who are working without pay during the partial federal shutdown.

Roger Williams University says active-duty Coast Guard members in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts and their families are welcome to the Bristol campus Tuesday night.

The university is expecting 75 to 100 people.

The Coast Guard says it has about 330 people in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including a team in Bristol that maintains aids to navigation.

President Donald Trump has said he's willing to keep the government closed to get funding to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Coast Guard is affected because it's part of the Department of Homeland Security. Other military services are receiving funding through the Defense Department.</s>WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCBD) – South Carolina Congressman Joe Cunningham announced he has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to pay U.S. Coast Guard members during the government shutdown.

The announcement came from his Washington office just after lunchtime Monday.

According to a press release, the bipartisan legislation called the “Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act of 2019,” would ensure active and reserve the United States Coast Guard members were paid during the duration of the government shutdown.

It would also provide backpay for furloughed Coast Guard civilian employees, as well as for Coast Guard military members, civilians, and contractors who provided services during the lapse in appropriations.

“The brave men and women who risk their lives to protect our coastlines should never bear the burden of political dysfunction," Cunningham said.

Currently, the Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. military not paid for their critical and continuing operations.

On Cunningham’s first day in office, he voted on a bipartisan series of bills to reopen the government.

“On my very first day in Congress, the House passed a series of bills to reopen the government with bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to take up this bipartisan legislation, so we can reopen the government and get to work on the many urgent problems we were elected to solve,” he said.

This shutdown is now the longest in American history.</s>NEW LONDON, Conn. — A coalition of Coast Guard-related nonprofit groups has opened a pop-up food pantry at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to help Coast Guard and academy workers affected by the partial government shutdown.

About 160 of the 260 government-funded nonessential employees at the New London, Connecticut-based academy are furloughed. Most others, including faculty and active-duty Coast Guard personnel, are working without pay.

The Coast Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is not funded during the shutdown.

The southeastern Connecticut chapter of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association, the Coast Guard Enlisted Association of Southeastern Connecticut and the Coast Guard Spouses' Association of Southeastern Connecticut, set up the pantry in the academy's Leamy Hall.

Affected workers can pick up donated food, pet supplies and household items.</s>The nation's 42,000 active-duty Coast Guard members missed their scheduled paycheck Tuesday, as the only military branch to work without pay during the government shutdown, NBC News reported.

Because the Coast Guard is under the Department of Homeland Security, it is getting no funding during the shutdown. All other parts of the military are under the still-funded Department of Defense.</s>ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — As active-duty members of the Coast Guard missed their first paychecks of the government shutdown Tuesday, members of the Jacksonville-area community worked to alleviate stress felt by the Coast Guard members and their families.

Beth Buswell, a mother-of-two whose husband is active-duty Coast Guard, said only one word described how she felt; scary.

“As of January 12, pretty much, the money from our paycheck on the first has run out,” Buswell said. “Bills are due, gas for cars is needed and a lot of us don’t know how we’re going to take care of these bills.”

Buswell spoke with First Coast News from the USO Mayport Center, where members of the Coast Guard and their families were able to pick up free groceries Tuesday. Greater Jacksonville Area USO Executive Director Mike O’Brien estimated 200-250 families were served Tuesday alone.

Buswell said she’d been getting by thanks to the kindness of others, but worried when that would end.

“Gas money will randomly show up at my house, someone will offer to buy me groceries, someone will help me with babysitting,” Buswell said. “[But] there’s only so much people can do. Other people have other responsibilities so at what point will it stop?”

Both Buswell and Rachel Broxson, another Coast Guard Wife, have the same concern going forward.

Broxson worried not only for her own family, but for every family in this situation.

“I’ve got so many families I know of that are already going through financial hardship just by missing this paycheck,” Broxson said.

February 1 could bring even more heartache to Coast Guard families. It would be the second missed paycheck and coincide with things like rent and car payments.

“You miss that car payment, it messes with your credit rating,” Broxson said. “And then our spouses’ security clearances are tied to that credit rating.”

With so much still uncertain and no end to the shutdown in sight, the women pleaded for a solution and relief from Washington, DC.

“Let’s stop using peoples’ lives as a bargaining chip,” Buswell said.

Click here for a list of services available to people affected by the shutdown and ways to donate to those in need.</s>A federal judge on Tuesday denied requests from unions representing air traffic controllers and other employees required to work through the government shutdown that they either be paid or have the option to skip work while missing paychecks.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled to keep the status quo, saying that an order allowing employees considered essential to skip work would be "chaotic" in a best-case scenario and "catastrophic" at worst.

Lawyers representing the National Air Traffic Controllers Association had sued the Trump administration to get their controllers, thousands of whom continue to work and just missed a paycheck, be paid while working during the shutdown in order for them to remain "laser-focused" on their job guiding more than 40,000 flights through the nation's airspace every day.

Lawyers for the labor unions, including National Treasury Employees Union, argued withholding pay while forcing labor is unconstitutional and violated U.S. labor laws.

Leon said only Congress can appropriate the funds to pay federal workers and would not force the Treasury Department to allocate funds to the furloughed employees.

This is a developing story, Please check back for updates.</s>A university in Rhode Island is offering a free dinner for U.S. Coast Guard members who are working without pay during the partial federal shutdown.

Roger Williams University says active-duty Coast Guard members in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts and their families are welcome to the Bristol campus Tuesday night.

The university is expecting 75 to 100 people.

The Coast Guard says it has about 330 people in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including a team in Bristol that maintains aids to navigation.

President Donald Trump has said he's willing to keep the government closed to get funding to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Coast Guard is affected because it's part of the Department of Homeland Security. Other military services are receiving funding through the Defense Department.</s>42,000 Coast Guard members miss first paycheck due to government shutdown

"The Congress can’t get their act together. The president can’t get their act together, but your community will take care of you," one Coast Guard spouse said.
About 42,000 active-duty Coast Guard members, who continue to work on essential operations, missed their scheduled paycheck Tuesday. This is the first time that United States Armed Forces servicemembers have not been paid during a shutdown or other lapse in government appropriation.