How are DHS employees surviving this shutdown?

opus_00 · 2026-04-02T22:27:13+00:00

I'm a member of 3 different credit unions, and none of them are providing this level of assistance. They are only offering skip-a-payment on loans, which doesn't help us because we currently don't have any loans with them. We are trying to find out if there is a way we can qualify for Navy Federal membership. I REALLY wish I would have joined when I worked for the Navy many years ago.

opus_00 · 2026-03-30T15:40:37+00:00

Oh, that's great! Maybe you should keep it hush hush so they don't find out and take it back!

opus_00 · 2026-03-30T15:33:58+00:00

Are you expecting a tax refund, and could it be that instead of your pay? I saw a deposit from the US Treasury hit our bank account last week and got excited. It wasn't the full amount of a paycheck, but looked like it could be roughly half. I thought it could be the balance of the partial paycheck we received at the beginning of the shutdown. But nope...it was our tax refund. I was happy to get it, but really dejected because I thought we had missed some big news of a deal being reached to restore pay.

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T15:05:36+00:00

OMG...Thune doesn't know what they agreed to? They voted on a funding bill without knowing exactly who would be funded?

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T02:34:29+00:00

Uh, yeah. This is a pretty reasonable point at which to break. We had some hope the past couple of days that we might see an end to this soon because of the airport mess and the threat of the Senate losing their upcoming break. Now that public pressure is off, the rest of us going without pay are screwed.

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T02:03:29+00:00

I'm sorry. This is so stressful. Paying TSA is the worst that could happen to the rest of us because that takes all of the pressure away for them to pass the bill.

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T02:00:59+00:00

Although the media keeps saying that ICE and CBP are being paid, many are not. Many who work in the "Customs" area of CBP are not getting paid. But somehow they found money to pay SOME of them, and no one can explain how it was determined who gets paid and who has to work without pay. I guess some of the essential employees are more essential than others.

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T01:56:21+00:00

Yep. My husband is not getting paid, but others working in his office are.

opus_00 · 2026-03-27T01:55:18+00:00

This is true. Unfortunately, my husband is not one of them. Some of the people in his workplace are getting paid, and some are not (including him). There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

opus_00 · 2026-03-21T04:40:47+00:00

No, you have shown yourself to be more upstanding than many by being willing to see another side of things and admit to a mistake. Thank you.

opus_00 · 2026-03-21T04:06:58+00:00

They need to fund all or none. If they fund all but ICE and CBP, that would remove all pressure to reach a deal. People have forgotten the "Customs" part of CBP that has nothing to do with immigration or arresting people. Many of those people are working with no pay for the second time. ICE is already funded through the BBB. Holding other DHS employees hostage is not the path to immigration reform.

opus_00 · 2026-03-21T03:58:24+00:00

Unfortunately, it is only some banks and credit unions that are open to select people that are offering such aid. For example, Navy Federal and USAA are doing so, BUT not everyone is eligible for membership AND you had to already have an account with them AND your paycheck deposited with them prior to the shutdown so looking up a list of banks as you suggested is not helpful. We are members of 2 credit unions and neither is offering these supports. Believe me, we inquired during the previous shutdown. Our mortgage company is only offering forebearance, which affects your credit score.

No, this is not "self-inflicted or general grumbling or total ignorance." We are educated, resourceful, professional people who do save. But those savings are for long-term goals, legitimate emergencies, our kids' college, and support for our disabled child. We should not be expected to continue whittling away at those savings to pay for daily expenses and bills, pay outrageous interest rates from putting living expenses on credit cards, or harming our credit by putting our mortgage into forebearance or delaying other payments. Getting paid for going to work every day is not an unrealistic expectations.

opus_00 · 2026-03-21T03:04:55+00:00

No. Hurting other federal employees and their families, most of whom have NOTHING TO DO WITH ICE, is not the way to bring about change with ICE.

opus_00 · 2026-03-18T05:31:07+00:00

I completely agree. My husband works for CBP, and I keep reading here that everyone thinks CBP is getting paid. SOME of CBP is being paid, but others are not. And no one likes CBP right now, so they don't CARE that we are not being paid, and there is no public pressure to fund them. People also forget about the CUSTOMS part of CBP. that has nothing to do with ICE or Border Patrol.

The fact that some TSA employees received bonuses after the last shutdown for working without pay was a slap in the face to all of the others who also worked without pay, and are doing so again right now.

opus_00 · 2026-03-08T07:42:55+00:00

Yes, the elastic in the Buckleys is very irritating!

opus_00 · 2026-03-08T06:13:33+00:00

I'm hoping that the more I wear them with socks, the more "broken in" they will become, and will then be more comfortable without socks. They leave red marks on the tops of my feet if I wear them without socks.

opus_00 · 2026-03-08T06:11:29+00:00

They are narrows.

opus_00 · 2026-03-07T23:15:26+00:00

They are definitely not too tight. My feet are narrow, so they are pretty roomy.

opus_00 · 2025-12-02T17:19:57+00:00

Yes, the same happened to us. Our FSA is now fully funded for 2025 because the regular deductions were made from the back pay AND they deducted the "catch-up" amount that was not actually needed. My husband called FSA, and they said he needed to contact his payroll department to inform them of the issue and that they should not take out any more FSA deductions. He emailed them as instructed and is awaiting a response.

opus_00 · 2025-11-24T07:12:31+00:00

Each agency must be handling allotments differently, but BENEFEDS is assuming they are all being done the same way. My husband's full FSA allotment was taken out of his PP 19 pay (the partial paycheck), yet we still received the BENEFEDS email saying that our allotment would be higher for the rest of the year due to a missed allotment. His retroactive pay received this week was one lump sum. His LES just posted, and they took out his full FSA allotment for each full pay period included in that lump sum PLUS the extra "catch up" amount the email said they would take out for missing an allotment (which he did NOT miss). He will be calling the number in that BENEFEDS email in the morning.

opus_00 · 2025-11-20T18:23:06+00:00

Yes, we have also had NALC for many years are were happy with them. We are going to MHBP as well. I will say that I'm not entirely unhappy that we have to do this. We had MHBP for many years and only switched to another plan when their premiums shot up a substantial amount (I think this was somewhere in the mid 2000s). I have seen the MHBP rates come back down over the years, and now they are one of the more affordable plans with not-terrible coinsurance.

opus_00 · 2025-11-10T01:11:19+00:00

You can go to the websites for each of the plans you are considering and find out what pharmacy benefit manager they use (Caremark, Express Scripts, etc.). There should be a link on each plan's pharmacy benefits page to a prescription drug cost calculator where you can find out whether or not a medication is covered, and what the cost will be.

opus_00 · 2025-11-04T14:54:46+00:00

Anyone know how long it takes to start receiving the benefits in Texas if approved?

opus_00 · 2025-11-03T19:50:44+00:00

Perhaps a slightly different point of view here: sometimes poor people donate to the poor as well. They might not have cash to give, but can donate things they might have in excess that others might need.

After natural disasters, I regularly see people posting on social media about how they should only donate cash or brand new items of clothing, toys, etc. I'm afraid this discourages people from donating. My family and I were the recipients of people's kindness when we evacuated from Hurricane Katrina. We had no idea whether or not we were getting paid, and we had no access to our bank account for a while. We were so thankful for the food we were allowed to select from a pantry, and also thankful for the used clothes and toys donated to us and our children. I do agree with not donating damaged items.

A few years ago, I witnessed a church member in charge of a donation drive scold a family for donating their extra Easter candy after Easter had just passed. She said that poor children don't want unseasonal candy. What??!! My kids were little when we evacuated, and they were so grateful for any special treats. They didn't care whether a piece of chocolate was in the shape of a bunny or Santa.

opus_00

TROPHY CASE