By Ben Kesling 

WASHINGTON -- The head of the U.S. Coast Guard said he found it unacceptable that active duty members and civilians are working without pay, as thousands of employees were set to miss another check this week because of the partial government shutdown.

The More than 40,000 active duty members of the U.S. Coast Guard and 8,000 civilian employees went without their last paychecks. Civilian employees are set to miss another paycheck Friday, while uniformed service members' next payday is Feb. 1.

If a funding solution hasn't been arranged by then, not only will active duty members miss a check, but so will approximately 50,000 retirees, survivors and other beneficiaries. It would be the first time these people go without their benefits, according to the Coast Guard.

"We're five-plus weeks into the anxiety and stress of this government lapse and your non-pay," said the head of the Guard, Adm. Karl Schultz, in a message to Coast Guard members on Twitter Tuesday evening. "You, as members of the armed services should not be expected to shoulder this burden."

He added: "I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through day-to-day life as service members."

Adm. Schultz has been vocal on social media during the partial shutdown, posting tweets regularly to his official account, and active on Capitol Hill as he and the top-ranking enlisted member of the guard press lawmakers and the administration to find a fix for the Coast Guard. He visited Capitol Hill Wednesday, according to his office.

Last week, White House and Senate officials came to a tentative agreement to move forward with a bill to pay active duty Coast Guard, according to people familiar with the matter, but the negotiations fell apart. The breakdown came as lawmakers argued over whether to pay just the active duty Coast Guard or to include other components, like the thousands of civilian employees, according to a House staffer familiar with the matter. Active duty pay was the only thing everyone could agree on, the person said.

Now, the Coast Guard pay question has taken a back seat to larger questions of opening the entire government rather than focusing on one part, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

"They've been sucked into this black hole," said Rep Joe Courtney (D., Conn.), referring to the Coast Guard. He added Congress should consider changing the way the Coast Guard is funded so such pay gaps can't happen in the event of future shutdowns.

Other branches of the military including the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force have largely been able to weather the partial shutdown because they are funded through Pentagon appropriations. The Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget is affected by the partial shutdown.

Without pay, the Coast Guard has come to rely on aid and assistance from food banks and donations, and service members have taken second jobs to help with financial hardship. Veterans groups have also assisted needy troops. The American Legion over the weekend said it had distributed more than $500,000 in relief funds to Coast Guard families and had called for donations to process more than 1,000 remaining requests.

Food banks and other support is coordinated by local organizations and individuals, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, spokesman for the Coast Guard. The service doesn't sponsor any of these activities and doesn't have a tally of the number of such efforts, he said.

"This will end. We will get through this," said Master Chief Petty Officer Jason Vanderhaden, the top enlisted member of the guard, in the Twitter message to fellow Coast Guard members. "When we get through this I want you to reflect back on your leadership and be proud of what you did and how you took care of your people.

Write to Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2019 17:49 ET (22:49 GMT)