Six veterans' groups unite, rip shutdown: 'Get your act together'

WASHINGTON – Several prominent veterans’ groups held a rare, joint news  conference Tuesday calling for an end to the government shutdown, saying tens of thousands of veterans in the federal workforce are facing increasingly difficult financial hardships as they continue to go without pay.

The agencies affected by the shutdown employ at least 150,000 veterans, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

"We ask the president and the Congress to get together, get your act together and get this situation resolved," said Regis "Rege" Riley, national commander of American Veterans, or AMVETS.

The national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vincent "B.J." Lawrence, highlighted the story of one veteran who came to his organization for help – a single mother of three, furloughed on unpaid leave, who now can't afford to pay for child care or rent.

"She had approached a landlord and asked for some consideration during the partial government shutdown on her rent being due, and she was denied that consideration," Lawrence said. "So she was reaching out to family members, to move in with a family member, to help take care of her family."

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Randy Reese, executive director of Disabled American Veterans, said it is "well past time" to end the standoff so veteran employees can collect their missing pay.

"Who would have thought that we’d be in the state that we are, with those who served their nation, served honorably, got discharged after doing their duty, went to work, waving the flag, working for the United States of America and find themselves in a state where the government of the United States shuts down," he said. 

They are part of the group known as the Big Six – The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, American Veterans and Disabled American Veterans – which represent nearly 5 million members and wield considerable clout in Washington.

Veterans also have been a key constituency for President Donald Trump. They voted for him by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 in 2016, according to exit polls. In an Associated Press poll last month, more than half of veterans surveyed – 56 percent – said they approve of the job he is doing and 62 percent approved of his handling of border security.

The Big Six groups were joined by other veteran organizations, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which have already condemned the impasse since the shutdown started Dec. 22.

The shutdown became the longest in history Saturday when it entered its 22nd day, breaking the previous 21-day record set in the 1990s during the Clinton administration. On Friday, some 800,000 federal workers missed their first paycheck since it began. The employees have been out on unpaid leave or forced to keep working without pay.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides medical care and benefits to millions of veterans, is not one of the agencies affected by the partial shutdown. But that's not the case for the U.S. Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The American Legion, which was not part of Tuesday's news conference, is doling out grants of up to $1,500 each to help Coast Guard employees facing financial hardship during the shutdown. The Legion’s national commander, Brett Reistad, earlier this month called on the administration and Congress to make an exception for the guard so its workers can collect pay during the shutdown.

“As a nonprofit, The American Legion is not capable of funding the entire Coast Guard payroll,” Reistad said.

But so far that hasn’t happened. The commandant of the guard, Adm. Karl Schultz, noted in a statement that active-duty guard members would not be receiving paychecks as scheduled Tuesday, even as they are deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, Antarctica and off the coasts of Central and South America.

“I recognize the anxiety and uncertainty this situation places on you and your family,” Schultz wrote. He said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen "remains fully engaged" and he would provide updates as the shutdown drags on.

“The strength of our Service has, and always will be, our people," he wrote. "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.”

Here’s the breakdown of veterans employed at DHS and other departments and agencies affected by the shutdown, according to 2016 data from the Office of Management and Budget: 

• Department of Homeland Security: 53,126

• Department of Justice: 29,246

• Department of Transportation: 20,249

• Department of Agriculture: 12,480

• Department of the Interior: 12,127

• Department of the Treasury: 10,203

• Department of Commerce: 5,636

• Department of State: 2,743

• NASA: 2,078

• Environmental Protection Agency: 1,364

• Department of Housing and Urban Development: 1,272

• Small Business Administration: 720

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