DEPOE BAY — About two dozen members of the U.S. Coast Guard at the busy surf rescue station here continued to receive their paychecks — at least through April 1 — along with nearly 1,000 other USCG personnel based in Oregon.

So far, Coast Guardsmen at six USCG surf stations on the Oregon coast have been paid throughout the DHS funding lapse. The 56,000-strong USCG is one of 16 federal agencies with 260,000 employees under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), many who are working without pay.

But future paychecks are not guaranteed, according to USCG Vice Commandant Adm. Thomas Allan who told House lawmakers March 25, “The service is operating under the grim uncertainty of whether we can make the next payroll.”

The shutdown began Feb. 13 in a face-off between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate over immigration enforcement following the deaths of two U.S. citizens earlier in the year.

The latest funding scheme — the third try — was passed in the House March 26, 218-206, days before lawmakers left Washington D.C. for a two-week break. But it remains unclear if Senate Dems, some who want to abolish ICE altogether, will agree to H.R. 8029. Under Democrat leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “ICE is off the table.”

Oregon 4th Dist. Congresswoman Val Hoyle has voted three times against budgets for DHS, which includes the besieged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), a strained Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and FEMA, the emergency management agency.

The shutdown will halt some USCG fisheries enforcement operations, commercial vessel inspections and merchant mariner credentialing, which affects thousands of U.S. workers. At the Depoe Bay station, all incoming calls are cut short unless they are a life-and-death situation.

Roughly two-thirds of the Coast Guard’s civilian work force who are nonexempt have been furloughed and required not to do any work nor receive any pay during the shutdown. Essential employees will continue working without pay. Reliable vendors have been cutoff.

There has been movement on ICE reforms such as body-worn cameras and reformed officer training, but sticking points remain around mask bans, warrants and use-of-force standards. The impasse has been seen by as a dead-end for Democrats and an opportunity for Republicans such as Monique DeSpain, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel who is challenging Hoyle over the looming shutdown of TSA-mandated airports in Eugene and North Bend.

“In the Air Force and throughout my career, a guiding leadership principle is: mission first, people always,” DeSpain said. “The mission here is clear – fund the department that keeps Americans safe.

Coast Guard retiree pay is unaffected by the partial shutdown, which is now the longest in U.S. history.

A retired senior petty officer said USCG personnel, as part of the U.S. military, are required under law to remain on duty whether they are paid or not.

“If you’re part of the military you still continue your duty. They’re still there even if they’re not getting paid. These shutdowns have become so common that some financial institutions have implemented programs to float paychecks with no-interest loans. It’s interesting that in Newport which presents itself as a Coast Guard city that everybody gets worked up over ICE coming in and the helicopter facility (closure) but nobody cares if the average Coast Guardsmen with kids, wives, husbands and families is getting paid. Nobody mentions that.”

The Beacon asked Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan for a comment on the situation but did not receive a call back by press time. If we hear from the mayor we will update this story.