Federal workers miss first full paychecks as shutdown becomes second

Roughly one million federal employees are estimated to be going without pay. About half have been furloughed, while the other half are considered essential workers, so they’re still showing up to work, even as their paychecks are frozen.

Earlier this week, lawmakers voted down a measure that would have allowed essential workers to continue receiving pay during the shutdown.

“I would have never thought in a million years that I would’ve been in this position, that I would have to go to a food bank,” Denise Blake, a Department of Defense employee, told Scripps News.

Blake joined hundreds of other federal employees at a food bank in the Washington, D.C. area this week, a growing trend as workers go weeks without income.

“It's like reality is really hitting now because [this shutdown] has