A group of former senior Coast Guard officers denounced government leaders in a Military.com op-ed for requiring members of the Coast Guard to work without pay during the partial government shutdown. Government leaders, the former master chiefs write, have been “derelict” in upholding the duties of their offices as the shutdown inches into its fifth week. In fact, the base pay of more than 14,000 junior members of the Coast Guard (which is about one-third of the active-duty workforce) is considered at or just below the established poverty level. “They don’t deserve to have their pay held hostage by their own government leadership,” the former officers wrote. On Thursday, a former Coast Guard commandant also berated President Donald Trump and Congress over the shutdown, calling the budget impasse “disgraceful” and “insulting” to those working without pay.

Source: Huffington Post January 18, 2019 23:12 UTC