Coast Guard operations, capabilities damaged by continued shutdown, says vice commandant
By Patricia Kime
Mar 26, 2026, 12:58 PM
The partial government shutdown is affecting civilian employees, recruiting, maintenance and non-emergency operations. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Thieme/U.S. Coast Guard)
Active-duty Coast Guard personnel have been paid through the partial government shutdown but the standoff is affecting civilian employees, recruiting, maintenance and non-emergency operations, the service’s vice commandant said Wednesday.
According to Adm. Thomas Allan, civilian workers have not received a paycheck since Feb. 14, and the service has stopped processing merchant mariner credentials, affecting 16,000 applications. It has failed to pay 5,000 utility bills and it is not paying the vendors who feed recruits at the service’s Cape May, New Jersey, training center.
It has also halted fisheries enforcement operations and routine maritime patrols. And families are operating under a “grim uncertainty” as to whether they will receive their April 1 paycheck — the third time in 176 days Coast Guard personnel have been affected by a shutdown, Allan told members of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“From our tactical boarding teams executing counter-narcotics missions to our rescue swimmers deploying from helicopters into rough seas, our crews should not have to worry about if their families will be able to pay rent or buy groceries,” Allan said.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/26/coast-guard-operations-capabilities-damaged-by-continued-shutdown-says-vice-commandant/
