Just before 7:30 a.m. Monday, NASA employee Darryl Lomax returned to his office in Greenbelt, Md. to carry out business as usual. It was just a week ago that Lomax applied for unemployment benefits to help his family survive the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. On that day, the 53-year-old spent the afternoon at a
community event geared toward connecting furloughed workers of color with critical health and social services.
Now, Lomax admits he had to psych himself up to report to work at the place he’s been employed for the last decade.
“I was saying, ‘Ok I’m ready to go back,’ but mentally and physically, I’m worn down,” Lomax said.
The five-week partial government shutdown took a damaging toll on his personal life. After Lomax became furloughed in late December, the Bowie, Md. resident fell behind on child support payments to support his 17-year-old son. Bills piled up, his vehicle broke down and his eight-year marriage came to a sudden end.
“I felt like I needed a vacation, because the stress level was so high,” said Lomax.
As for the unemployment application, Lomax said he’ll allow the 21-day processing period to continue to run its course. That’s in large part because the deal President Donald Trump signed to
reopen the government applies only to the next three weeks.
“So I have to find out if that’s going to affect the [unemployment] process,” Lomax said. “Do I have to start all over again and wait for another 21 days?”
As the hours wind down on his first day back to work, Lomax holds on to one glimmer of hope: he should receive his backpay by Friday.
‘That’s When The Stress Builds Up All Over Again’
The road ahead remains uncertain for Lomax and about 800,000 federal employees across the country who went without paychecks during the shutdown.
Workers missed a second paycheck last week. Many of those employees were considered “essential” and worked without pay, but all will be paid in full for the shutdown’s duration.
Many contractors with the federal government are not expecting backpay.
Lomax said the paychecks this week are crucial, because workers might find themselves cut off again next month.
“The thought of three weeks hanging over us,” Lomax said. “That’s when the stress builds up all over again.”
Until a long term funding bill is passed, Lomax, a human resources specialist, plans to focus on getting his department back up and running to full capacity. That includes triggering the process to onboard new NASA hires, who were supposed to start work during the first week of the shutdown. Lomax is contemplating when their first day of work should be.
“We might even try to see if we can get them in sometime this week,” Lomax said. “But with so much going on, who knows.”