Worries remain for U.S. government contractors as shutdown ends

POLITICS JANUARY 26, 2019 / 3:31 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Minutes after President Donald Trump announced an end to the longest U.S. government shutdown in history on Friday, Yvette Hicks’ phone started ringing.

“I had bill collectors calling me back-to-back-to-back wondering when I could start making a payment arrangement,” she said, recalling how her mood quickly changed from excitement back to worry.

Hicks, 40, a security guard at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, is one of thousands of federal government contractors who do not expect to be paid for the month of work they missed during the 35-day partial shutdown - and who remain at risk if Trump and lawmakers fail to reach a more lasting agreement beyond the current three-week deal to reopen the government.

Trump, who had demanded Democrats agree to fund construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border before he would agree to reopen the government, has signed legislation guaranteeing back pay for 800,000 federal employees affected by the shutdown.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shutdown-contractors/worries-remain-for-u-s-government-contractors-as-shutdown-ends-idUSKCN1PK0QN


Put this into perspective, as soon as the bill was signed by the jerk that created this mess, the phone calls started to come in on the harassment from people wanting there money, from the people that did nothing wrong.

Yvette Hicks, should not have to go through the harassment...............this is just wrong