Not again. Federal workers who’ve weathered past government shutdowns brace for yet another ordeal

John Hubert, an airport security officer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, recalls helping fellow Transportation Security Administration workers get essentials from food banks when they worked without pay during the last government shutdown. By the end of the 35-day ordeal, he needed the same help himself.

Steve Reaves, a union leader for workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, went through three government shutdowns while working at FEMA, and remembers having to pull money out of his retirement early to make ends meet during that last one in 2018-19.

Jessica LaPointe, a Social...