SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- With the government shutdown entering its first day since members of Congress could not reach a spending budget, San Diego military employees are working without pay.
Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps’ largest west coast expeditionary training facility, is home to 38,000 military family members. On Wednesday, the station confirmed that since the shutdown, military will work without pay and civilian workers who are not in “excepted work” will not be working.
“The most recent appropriations for the Department of War expired at 11:59 p.m. EST on September 30, 2025,” Camp Pendleton officials said in a social media post. “Military personnel will continue in a normal duty status without pay until such time as a continuing resolution or appropriations are passed by Congress and signed into law.”
Miramar Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), home to the popular Miramar Airshow, posted the same statement on social media. Military personnel will work without pay and civilian staff that has not been excepted will not be working.
MCAS Miramar added in a separate post that, “there is a lapse of appropriations and there will be limited updates.”
In response to the shutdown, San Diego Councilmember and CA-48 Congressional Candidate Marni Von Wilpert said the Republican controlled White House and Congress are responsible.
Von Wilpert mentioned Representative Darrell Issa (CA-48), the incumbent she is challenging in 2026.
“This is Donald Trump and Darrell Issa’s choice and working families in San Diego and Riverside Counties are paying the price,” Von Wilpert said. “They wanted this shutdown to continue their dismantling of the federal government through mass layoffs at the EPA, CDC, NIH, Social Security Administration, and other agencies that provide essential services to my constituents.”
Issa believes that Democrats are responsible for the shutdown by pushing the budget to avoid cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.
“Here’s the bottom line: The Democrats demanded trillions in new government spending, tried to blackmail @realDonaldTrump and @HouseGOP, and when they didn’t get it, they shut down the government,” Issa said in a social media post.
With Congress in a stalemate, the White House has added that federal workers can expect layoffs within two days. A memo from the Office of Management and Budget suggests that some of these layoffs may even be permanent.
“As a city councilmember, I am required by law to pass balanced budgets, and I’ve done it while protecting taxpayers,” Von Wilpert said. “Congress should be held to the same standard.”