Correctional officers, like hundreds of thousands of federal employees, have been working for four weeks without paychecks. Like other federal employees, correctional officers are facing difficult decisions between purchasing food, gas to get to work and paying bills, Young said. But for prison workers, unpaid debts can jeopardize the security clearance a federal prison worker needs to stay on the job. Correctional officers who can't pay their debts are considered at risk for bribery by inmates or gangs. Federal prisons are frequently located in rural areas, so many officers have lengthy and expensive 50- or 60-mile gas guzzling commutes.

Source: CNN January 20, 2019 19:02 UTC