NORFOLK, Virginia – As the days ticked down to Oct. 15, military families in Hampton Roads, Virginia, eyed their bank accounts with growing apprehension.
That day, active duty military members were due for their mid-monthly paycheck. But amid an ongoing government shutdown, military families grappled with difficult financial decisions and wondered how they would make ends meet if an unresolved congressional disagreement 200 miles away in Washington, DC, deprived them of pay.
"You're literally counting down the minutes," said Shalynn Pugh, 33, whose spouse is in the Navy. "You're checking the news, you're checking posts, you're checking to see if anybody has any kind of update as to whether or not there's actually going to be a paycheck waiting for us."
Most military servicemembers, who are paid bimonthly, received their paychecks on Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began when Democrats in Congress voted down a Republican plan to keep the government funded.
But early in the week their mid-monthly paycheck, due on the 15th, was still mired in uncertainty.
