After Nearly a Full Month of a Government Shutdown, New York Service Members are Feeling the Heat of Financial Uncertainty

With Rep. Lawler and House Republicans Unwilling to Make a Deal to Reopen the Government, New York Service Members and Their Families Have Been Left Hanging in the Balance

NEW YORK — With the government shutdown nearing the end of its fourth week, House Republicans have continued to stonewall any effort to reach a deal to reopen the government. With paychecks and crucial services for nearly 18,000 active-duty servicemembers in New York hanging in the balance, families are growing increasingly anxious about the financial uncertainty that a prolonged shutdown would bring.

“With the government shut down and military pay hanging in the balance, thousands of military families are left unsure of whether or not they’ll receive their next paycheck,” said Joe Mayhew, an Air Force veteran from Pawling. “It’s already too difficult for young military families to get by. Now we have a Republican Congress led by Speaker Johnson that is refusing to come to work to address the nation’s healthcare crisis and using military families as pawns in a political fight. It’s time for Speaker Johnson to get his members back to work and do what Congress was meant to do: compromise and make a fair deal to reopen the government so that our service members and their families can stop worrying about whether or not they’ll get paid.”

“It’s well past time for Congressman Lawler and his Republican colleagues to get back to Washington, make permanent the ACA healthcare subsidies, and reopen the government so that our service members can get paid,” said Joel Gingold, a retired engineer and Navy veteran from Croton-on-Hudson. “That is what this shutdown is all about. Mike Lawler promised that he would not increase health care costs, so now it’s time for him to keep his promise. Our military families cannot wait while he and his Republican friends play stupid political games instead of doing their jobs, re-opening the government, and providing regular paychecks to our military.”

"As service members and as veterans, we sacrifice our time, our bodies, our voices, and possibly even our lives in defense of our country, on the promise that our families will be taken care of,” said Lene Mees de Tricht, a Navy and Coast Guard veteran and member of Common Defense. “The Republican effort to keep the government shut down is a betrayal of the agreement this nation makes with its soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, and guardians. And now that betrayal has become very real as military families, the spouses and children of our service members, are forced to wait in line at food pantries and food banks across the country, along with a rapidly growing number of Americans. Our service people and their families deserve better. The veterans at Common Defense call upon Speaker Johnson to do his job and open the government, or get out of the way for someone who will.”

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About Empire State Voices 

Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.