Nearly two weeks after the record-long government shutdown ended, some Defense Department civilian employees say they have yet to receive the back pay they are owed. 

The federal government reopened on Nov. 13 after President Donald Trump signed a bill to fund the government through Jan. 30, ending the 43-day shutdown and allowing tens of thousands of DoD civilians to return to work.

At the time, the Office of Personnel Management said that checks for DoD civilians were slated to go out on Nov. 16. DoD civilians, however, were told to expect payment sometime between Nov. 17 and Nov. 20. 

But with Thanksgiving week now underway, many workers say they are still waiting for as much as four weeks of back pay.

One civilian employee at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, who was furloughed during the shutdown, told Federal News Network that more than 150 people in their unit of more than 400 civilians have not been paid.

“When everybody got back to work, we were told that the next week — or mid-week — we would get paid. And a lot of people did get paid, but a lot of us have not. They keep saying, ‘It’s going to take a few days,’” he said Wednesday. 

The Air Force employee said there has been no official guidance or clear communication, but their supervisor told them Wednesday to expect back pay on Nov. 29.

“There’s nothing in writing,” the employee said. “It’s all the leadership just walking around telling us, ‘Expect to get paid.’ There’s no email traffic — it’s just their own interpretation of when they think we’re going to get paid. But there’s been nothing official sent out.”

A DoD spokesperson told Federal News Network that all civilians whose updated time and attendance have been received have been paid.

“It is essential that civilian employees review their time and attendance reports, and their Leave and Earnings Statements (LES) for accuracy. Civilians with questions or civilian pay issues should contact their local Agency Customer Service Representative (CSR) or immediate supervisor. [The Defense Finance and Accounting Service] will continue to work with the military components to resolve any remaining payment issues,” the spokesperson said.

Another Air Force civilian in San Antonio, who worked through the shutdown, said many civilians in their unit of police officers are still waiting for back pay. 

“Nobody in leadership has put out any message other than when I inquired with my person who handles the payroll. She just said we should be getting paid on the 23rd or 24th, but that didn’t happen. Now, we are going into past Thanksgiving, who knows when it’s going to be,” the Air Force civilian told Federal News Network on Wednesday. 

He said he has been trying for weeks to get answers for himself and the employees he supervises. When he asked his own supervisor for help, he was told to consider filing a congressional complaint.

“That’s just laughable to me because we have a GS-13, we have a commander and active-duty commander. There’s a whole bunch of people between me and my congressman that could probably provide answers. But going to your supervisor hasn’t worked,” the Air Force employee said.

“I don’t understand why they can’t just put out a simple explanation, because communication really helps, whether it’s good or bad, but at least they could explain why or what the problem is, but they haven’t. It’s frustrating,” he added.

The bill that Congress passed to reopen the government reaffirmed that both furloughed and excepted federal employees would receive back pay. The Office of Personnel Management official guidance stated the agency “is committed to ensuring that retroactive pay is provided as soon as possible,” and that the retroactive pay for excepted employees “must be provided at the earliest date possible after the lapse ends.”

A defense official told Federal News Network last week that “DFAS is running continuous pay cycles to expeditiously pay civilians a one-time retroactive lump sum payment for pay periods missed during the government shutdown. Civilians and service members who have questions regarding their pay may contact their local finance office or chain of command.” 

The Department of the Air Force did not respond to questions about how many Air Force civilian employees are impacted, the cause of the delay or when civilians should expect back pay.

With pay stalled for weeks, many federal workers were forced to dip into savings, rely on credit cards, seek out no-interest loans or take on part-time work to make ends meet. Military families have been turning up at food banks in greater numbers — the Armed Services YMCA, for example, reported a 30% to 75% spike in demand at its food pantries near military installations since the shutdown began. 

“I’ve joked with my family and my kids that if I don’t get back pay, we might have to push Christmas til maybe January, but the impending loom of another shutdown at the end of January, it can’t get worse,” the Air Force employee from Laughlin Air Force Base said.

Defense Department civilians aren’t the only ones still waiting for their back pay. 

“Smithsonian still has not managed to get us paid. They are wasting time making sure everyone has the correct time codes rather than getting people paid. It’s more important to them that they take a couple weeks to record we were furloughed. Can’t pay the mortgage, but at least they’ll have the correct time code,” a federal employee told Federal News Network on Nov. 22.

At the Federal Aviation Administration, one air traffic control employee reported receiving only partial back pay through the end of November. 

Meanwhile, federal workers who have received back pay told Federal News Network they cannot verify whether the pay was accurate as they have not received an accompanying Leave and Earnings Statement.

“Not sure if it is accurate, as no LES are being created for the back pay,” one federal employee said.

“Without a LES, I have no idea. I just hope it’s right. It feels like it might be right, but I don’t know,” another employee told Federal News Network. 

Others reported major errors — an employee who received their back pay said it was “taxed so incorrectly that my first paycheck after returning was missing about $500 and only one of two missed health insurance payments were taken out.”

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

The post Some DoD civilians are still waiting for back pay weeks after shutdown’s end first appeared on Federal News Network.

As the government begins to reopen after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, paychecks for Defense Department civilians who haven’t been paid in over a month are slated to be processed on Sunday, while service members are expected to get paid on time, according to an administration official.

President Trump signed a bill late Wednesday to fund the government through Jan. 30, ending the record 43-day shutdown and clearing the way for tens of thousands of Defense Department civilians to return to work. 

While the administration official told Federal News Network that checks are scheduled to go out on Sunday, DoD civilians are being told to expect payment sometime between Monday and mid-week. 

One DoD civilian told Federal News Network their supervisor said paychecks could “possibly” arrive on Monday, but the organization has yet to receive an official timeline. Civilian employees there were instructed to return to work Thursday after being notified late Wednesday night.

Another DoD civilian told Federal News Network their organization is still waiting on official guidance about when furloughed employees will be reporting back, but as of now they have no official return date. 

Agencies have been told to “take all necessary steps to ensure offices open in a prompt and orderly manner on Nov. 13,” an Air Force Department spokesperson told Federal News Network. 

It is unclear how many civilian employees were furloughed during this shutdown. The Air Force spokesperson said furloughs and exemptions were handled at the local level and the department does not have an aggregated number.

The Army did not provide details on when furloughed employees are expected to return to work or how many employees were furloughed during the shutdown — an Army spokesperson told Federal News Network the service has not yet lifted its communications restrictions.  

The Department of the Navy referred inquiries regarding the return date for civilian employees to the Office of Personnel Management.

OPM said on social media platform X that federal agencies in the Washington, D.C. area are open and that employees are expected to begin the workday on time. “Normal operating procedures are in effect,” the agency said. OPM also issued guidance Wednesday outlining how agencies should handle administering pay, leave and benefits for employees impacted by the lapse in appropriations.

According to the Defense Department’s contingency plan released ahead of the shutdown, about 45% of the department’s civilian workforce was expected to be furloughed.

The department employs roughly 741,500 civilians, according to the contingency plan. Of those, approximately 24% — or about 182,700 — are funded through sources other than the annual appropriations bill. Another 30% — about 223,900 — are designated as “excepted” personnel who continue to work regardless of the lapse in funding. The department estimated that about 334,900 civilian employees would be furloughed in the event of a shutdown.

The legislation Trump signed Wednesday only funds the government through Jan. 30, meaning another shutdown threat is already looming.

Organizations like the National Military Family Association are already urging Congress to revisit legislation such as the “Pay Our Troops Act” introduced just before the shutdown, which would ensure that troops, DoD civilians and Coast Guard members continue to receive pay and benefits in the event of a shutdown. It would also prevent future eleventh-hour attempts to ensure service members are paid on time — during this shutdown, the administration drew heavily from several accounts, including the research and development and procurement accounts, to cover military pay. At some point, DoD received a donation from a private donor to fund military salaries. 

David Super, the Carmack Waterhouse professor of law and economics at Georgetown University Law Center, said that the department could also ask Congress to forward fund military pay in the future or even current budget requests.

“That’s done for some accounts that we don’t want to have interrupted. Instead of paying it fiscal year by fiscal year, they could pay it calendar year by calendar year, so that there would still be money for the next three months to cover it — that’s a perfectly sensible thing. To the best of my knowledge, neither this administration or its predecessors have proposed that that would be a good idea,” Super told Federal News Network.

The bill also includes full-year funding for military construction, the departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and Congress. The $153 billion measure would provide $19.7 billion for Pentagon construction and family housing programs.

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

The post DoD civilians to receive back pay Sunday, military pay remains on schedule first appeared on Federal News Network.