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Coast Guard Tells Families To Hold Garage Sales To Raise Cash During Government Shutdown

According to a new report from The Washington Post [1], employees of the U.S. Coast Guard are being told to sell some of their possessions to raise cash during the government shutdown.

The suggestions were part of a five-page tip sheet [2] published by the Coast Guard Support Program, an employee-assistance arm of the service often known as CG SUPRT. It is designated to offer Coast Guard members help with mental-health issues or other concerns about their lives, including financial wellness.

“Bankruptcy is a last option,” the document said.

From the Post:

The Coast Guard receives funding from the Department of Homeland Security, and is subjected to the shuttering of parts of the government along with DHS’s other agencies. That stands in contrast to other military services, which are part of the Defense Department and have funding.

The tip sheet, titled “Managing your finances during a furlough,” applies to the Coast Guard’s 8,500-person civilian work force. About 6,400 of them are on indefinite furlough, while 2,100 are working without pay after being identified as essential workers, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, a service spokesman. They were last paid for the two-week period ending Dec. 22.

The Coast Guard removed the tip sheet from the support program’s website late Wednesday morning.

“The suggestions do not reflect the Coast Guard’s current efforts to support our workforce during this lapse in appropriations,” Lt. Cmdr. Scott McBride, a Coast Guard spokesman, told the Post. “As such, this guidance has been removed.”

Members of the Coast Guard last month received their final paycheck of 2018 despite the shutdown, after the service had announced that paychecks would be delayed.

Twitter was disgusted: