Most federal employees, and some contractors, aren’t getting paychecks because of the shutdown. But the bills keep coming. The National Treasury Employees Union has surveyed its members and concluded that most are worried about their finances as the shutdown drags on. There is help, if you know where to look. Dan Berger is president and CEO of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. He talked about what kind of assistance is being offered.

What a roller coaster federal employees have been riding the last few months. That’s also true for retirees. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey gives his perspective on the shutdown and other matters. He pointed out that retirees in and out of government are going to get a skimpy increase in benefits. And even that calculation came out late.

Members of the American Postal Workers Union have booted their current president and elected an upstart, Mark Dimondstein. In a campaign statement, Dimondstein cautions that there’s no magic wand to fix the problems postal employees face. But he promises to establish a national program to retain full-time jobs, fight plant mergers and post-office closures.

The government hasn’t paid federal contractors for two weeks now. Even when the shutdown ends, those paychecks won’t come immediately. Some contractors, especially smaller ones, are now teetering on the edge of collapse. Federal News Radio’s Executive Editor Jason Miller reports.

We heard about the shutdown’s impact on federal contractors. It’s hardest on the small fries who don’t have a lot of cash reserves. But some of the bigger guns are celebrating victories that have gotten lost in the news cycle. Bloomberg Reporter Jonathan Salant has written about an end-of-fiscal-year buying spree at the Pentagon.