Federal workers have missed about $5K in wages since shutdown began

The average federal worker who has not been paid since the partial government shutdown began last month has missed about $5,000 in wages so far, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

More than 800,000 federal workers have not been paid since the shutdown started on Dec. 22. The funding impasse stems from President Trump’s demand for $5 billion to construct his proposed border wall and congressional Democrats’ refusal to provide that amount.

{mosads}Federal employees have missed a combined $200 million per workday, the analysis found.

The median government salary is $77,000 a year, and approximately one-fifth of federal workers make less than $50,000, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management cited by the Times.

The newspaper calculated that a typical employee working at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not been paid $12,532 since the shutdown began, and an estimated $56 million is now owed to 4,436 SEC staffers.

Attorneys and lawyers at the SEC can make more than $200,00 per year, the Times reported.

An estimated $7.6 million is owed to 657 workers at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where the average worker has missed about $11,534 in pay.

The agency with the largest number of employees not being paid during the shutdown is the Department of Homeland Security. More than $1 billion is owed to 245,405 workers, who have each missed an estimated $5,895 in pay.

Airport screeners with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) make $41,000 a year on average, and have missed about $2,700 in wages.

The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, is now in its 26th day with no end in sight.

Several federal workers and labor unions have filed lawsuits over the shutdown, arguing that employees have unlawfully been required to work without pay or barred from seeking alternative jobs.

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to issue an order that would have forced the government to temporarily pay workers during the shutdown.