As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, National Guard units across the country are canceling drill weekends, suspending routine training, and operating without pay for many personnel, according to state National Guard officials across the country.
In several states, only units preparing for mobilization or conducting mission-critical activities are continuing training, Guard officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Other drills have been postponed altogether, leaving thousands of National Guard members temporarily sidelined and unpaid while force readiness deteriorates.
“That’s not good. Definitely not good. It’s an essential part of that safety net,” Democratic Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper told the DCNF on Tuesday when asked about the cancelled exercises. “It’s not the most important — I mean, I can give you 25 reasons why we need to open the government back up tomorrow, right?”
Still, Hickenlooper and the vast majority of Senate Democrats have voted against a House-passed bipartisan spending measure to end the shutdown eleven times. The Colorado Democrat will get a twelfth chance later on Wednesday to advance a stopgap measure that would reopen the government and get National Guard troops back on their usual rhythm.
Guard officers argue the shutdown has been uniquely challenging for personnel across the country who have not been paid in the month of October if they are not on active duty. The Guard also voiced concern about the prolonged shutdown’s impact on readiness.
“Some are still required to work despite the lack of pay,” Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, president of the National Guard Association of the United States, said in a statement Tuesday. “Others are furloughed, their responsibilities piling up, which reduces the Guard’s readiness to respond to state or nation. Most are frustrated. Many now worry about how they will pay their bills.”
In Mississippi, only units with upcoming mobilizations are authorized to conduct training, while “all other units have suspended drill weekends, training exercises, and temporary duty assignments,” according to Maj. Heather Bennett, director of public affairs for the Mississippi National Guard. Civilian personnel not supporting “excepted activities” have been furloughed and all Guard personnel are continuing to serve without pay until funding is restored.
“Currently, there is no guidance regarding the resumption of normal operations until appropriations are approved,” Bennett said.
The Connecticut National Guard similarly reported that “routine training events, temporary duty assignments and drill weekends that are not essential to life, safety or property protection have been suspended or delayed,” Maj. Michael Wilcoxson, director of public affairs for the Connecticut National Guard, told the DCNF. He added that while troops remain in a normal duty status, they will not be paid until appropriations resume.
The Nevada Army Guard did not schedule an October drill for its 4,300 National Guardsmen in anticipation of the looming government shutdown, according to Capt. Emerson Marcus, public affairs officer for the Nevada National Guard. Approximately 5,500 employees and guardsmen in Nevada are currently affected by the shutdown, he said.
Guard officers representing Illinois, Maine, Georgia and South Carolina also told the DCNF the shutdown is disrupting their normal activities.
“It’s important that military units, you know, train,” Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told the DCNF on Tuesday. However, he signaled that Democrats are not likely to relent their shutdown strategy anytime soon, blaming President Donald Trump for the impasse.
“There’s a way to get that funding, which is for the president to sit down, at this point, have a negotiation with us about the cost of people’s health care,” Kelly said. “He spent, as far as I could tell, an hour on it, and that’s not sufficient.”
GOP lawmakers have blasted Senate Democrats for continuing to keep the government shuttered despite mounting financial stress on service members and impacts to military readiness.
“Your decision has halted advanced training and drastically reduced readiness and lethality,” Republican Texas Rep. August Pfluger and 27 other Republican Study Committee members wrote in a letter to Schumer on Oct. 15. “Could this be your intention?”
When asked at what point cancelled National Guard exercises will become a national security concern, Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told the DCNF, “You’ll have to ask the Democrats. I’ve been voting to open it up. You need to talk to the Democrats, they’re voting to keep it shut down.”
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