JOHNSTON, Iowa — The federal government shutdown continued on Thursday and thousands of Iowans have been affected. 

Almost 3,000 employees with the Iowa National Guard are feeling the impact of the shutdown. 

There are about 1,800 soldiers from Iowa currently deployed overseas. They will continue their missions through the shutdown but will not be paid during it.

Back in the state, Iowa National Guard has about 1,000 civilian federal employees, and about ⅔ of them have been furloughed. 

All Iowa National Guard employees will be back paid when this shutdown is over. 

“First of all, we just want to make sure everyone knows this is not impeding our ability to fulfill our state and federal missions with the Iowa National Guard,” Jackie Schmillen, Director of Public Affairs for the Iowa National Guard, said. “Both uniformed and civilian employees will all receive back pay once an appropriation is approved. And so, for example, today, all of our full time employees received a paycheck today for the last two weeks that they worked. Now, it all depends how long the shutdown goes. If it goes longer than two weeks, then we can understand that individuals might start feeling a pinch in their pocketbooks. But we also want to make sure that everyone knows that our people are most important to us.”

How was it decided who was considered essential and who would be furloughed? 

“We receive guidance not only from the Department of War, but also the National Guard Bureau. And so we take that information,” she said. “We’re constantly still working through all of that right now. But we deem who is essential to make sure that we are fulfilling everything that we need to. But that is an ebb and flow number. So if there was ever a need across the state or the country where our services might be needed, we can bring people in on orders. So that number is ever changing and flowing.”

In the meantime, they hope the shutdown doesn’t last long enough, like a record 35-day shutdown in 2019, where they miss a paycheck. But they’re prepared to help their workers through Warrior and Family Services. 

“If they have any needs, whether that’s financial, emotional, anything right now, especially for our deployed service members and those family members that might need assistance at this time, we are always there ready for them. Whatever those needs might be, we’re ready to take care of them,” Schmillen said.