What Happens To Secret Service During Shutdown

(CNN)Those tasked with protecting the President of the Us are working without pay for the 27th day equally the partial authorities shutdown heads toward its 5th calendar week. Agents of the United States Hugger-mugger Service say they're continuing to carry out their mission, just morale and daily operations are first feel the effects of the lingering shutdown.

"There are a lot of people that are having financial hardships for it, and people are kind of bracing for impact," a Secret Service agent tells CNN.

Another agent warns special agents and uniformed partition officers working without pay is not only pain morale, but can too be unsafe.

"If you've got guys thinking about how they're going to make their firm payment, I tin but tell you, you're not doing your job right. Your caput is not in the correct place -- this is affecting people," one of the agents who was granted anonymity out of fear of speaking to the press told CNN.

The Hugger-mugger Service employs seven,222 people, nearly six,000 of whom are working without pay while more than 1,200 are furloughed since they were not accounted essential, co-ordinate to the Section of Homeland Security's shutdown plans.

The Hush-hush Service, which falls under DHS like the US Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration, has field offices around the world and is not only responsible for protecting the President of the United States and his family unit but also foreign dignitaries and embassies within the United states of america, in addition to carrying out their core mission of investigating financial crimes.

91 (and counting) very real direct effects of the partial government shutdown

Employees tell CNN critical and back up are working, only the reduction in staff still impacts their work.

"Information technology's cutting off certain functions that help the states just do our jobs," one member of the Secret Service told CNN. "Getting funding to go vital equipment nosotros need. We drive things, things interruption. We exercise things and things suspension. Nosotros already operate with old equipment -- we've been underfunded and understaffed for and so many years now, and it's going to catch up to us."

A DHS official tells CNN hotel and flight expenses for agents who are required to travel for protection are paid for direct by the Secret Service. Whatever other expenses incurred on trips are paid out of pocket because travel vouchers aren't being processed, but USSS is trying to work every bit best equally it can with agents to make certain they are taken intendance of, the official says. Cash advance options are being promoted and encouraged as much as possible.

White Firm spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement: "Nosotros have the deepest respect for the dauntless men and women of the United States Underground Service and couldn't be more grateful for the piece of work they practice every unmarried day."

One agent tells CNN, much like the general public, opinions on the shutdown vary throughout the agency, but nobody is happy about working without a paycheck, and families are get-go to have conversations about what their financial breaking point is.

"There are people that are saying I like this job and I'll put up with information technology for equally long every bit I can, only I know if this regime shutdown continues than financially I can't do that to my family. I will have to go somewhere else," the agent said.

Another agent tells CNN the bulk doesn't care nearly the politics of the shutdown, they merely desire to get paid. "Virtually people don't intendance virtually politics. This isn't about the wall ... when guys are having a difficult time paying the bills and making ends meet, nobody wants to hear most that," the agent said.

Trump's shutdown nightmare: A choice between the economy and the wall

The agent said one of his colleagues who does back up the President'south insistence on continuing the shutdown until he gets funding to building a wall along the southern border had to apply for food stamps in club to feed his family.

"One guy is literally going to become food stamps today because he'south a unmarried source of income for his family, and he was saying, 'You know what, I support [President Trump], and I call back we ought to keep the shutdown as long equally we need, considering I support what he's doing. And he tin can do that, and I'll go get food stamps.' "

A split up amanuensis telling CNN, "I didn't work to get to the bespeak that I am -- years in the military machine and law enforcement -- to go get on food stamps."

CNN law enforcement annotator and former Special Agent Jonathan Wackrow warns a lagging shutdown can pb to issues with Cloak-and-dagger Service personnel's security clearances.

"If their credit score goes beneath a certain level, they lose their clearance levels to operate at the highest level of the government, and so (sensitive compartmented data) clearance and (top secret) clearances could be at jeopardy because of mounting debt," Wachrow said. "Then, in the back of their mind equally they are executing on the cadre mission, they know there's a downstream upshot that could impact their task and their task operation."

While frustration builds within the Secret Service, all of the agents and officers CNN spoke to share one message -- regardless of pay, they accept a job to practise and a mission to serve.

"One thing that is pretty consistent though, we're going to continue to do our job no matter what," one agent tells CNN. "We're going to practice our job whether nosotros're paid or not and that'due south merely how we are equally an organization. That's the civilization -- that we work through it and say we're hither do to it and nosotros're going to do it. Nosotros're going to power through."

CNN'due south Jessica Dean contributed to this story.