By BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is exacting a heavy mental toll on the nation’s military families, leaving them not knowing from week to week whether their paychecks will arrive.

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Alicia Blevins, whose husband is a Marine, said she’s going to see a therapist in large part because of the grinding uncertainty.

“I don’t feel like I have the tools to deal with this,” said Blevins, 33, who lives at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base near North Carolina’s coast. “I don’t want to dump all this on my husband. He’s got men that he’s in charge of. He’s got enough to deal with.”

Even though the Trump administration has found ways to pay the troops twice since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the process has been fraught with anxiety for many Americans in uniform and their loved ones. Both times, they were left hanging until the last minute.

Four days before paychecks were supposed to go out on Oct. 15, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops were paid. With the next payday approaching Friday, the White House confirmed Wednesday that it had found the money.

The Trump administration plans to move around $5.3 billion from various accounts, with about $2.5 billion coming from Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill that was signed into law this summer.

But the scrounging in Washington for troop pay can only last for so long.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the government will soon run out of ways to compensate the military and that by Nov. 15, the troops “aren’t going to be able to get paid.”

‘We’re not being thought of at all’

The uncertainty has been fueling resentment among families of the roughly 2 million active duty service members, National Guard members and reservists. There’s a common refrain that the troops are being used as pawns.

But Jennifer Bittner, whose husband is an Army officer, said that gives Congress too much credit.

“You have to be thought of to be used as a pawn,” said Bittner, 43, of Austin, Texas. “And we’re not being thought of at all.”

Bittner’s 6-year-old daughter is using three inhalers right now because she has high-risk asthma, a chronic lung condition and a cold. Each device requires a $38 copay at the pharmacy. Bittner’s severely autistic son requires diapers that cost $200 a month, while she sometimes has to haggle with military insurance to cover the expense.

She worries about those costs as well as the mortgage and groceries for their family of five.

“It is mentally and sometimes physically exhausting stressing about it,” Bittner said of her husband possibly missing a paycheck, while noting that members of Congress are still getting paid.

Many active duty troops live paycheck to paycheck and survive on only one income. Even when they get paid, the shutdown is deepening the financial strain that many families face, said Delia Johnson, chief operating officer for the nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network.

The Oct. 15 paychecks arrived days after they usually do for many people with early direct deposit to their bank accounts, disrupting their ability to pay bills on time and forcing some to pay late fees or rack up debt, Johnson said. Active duty troops also may be dealing with the added expense of moving from one base to another, which she said occurs for roughly 400,000 military households each year.

And many military spouses lose their jobs because of the move or are underemployed from frequent relocations, Johnson said. Reimbursements for moving costs are paused for many during the shutdown, while not all expenses are being repaid.

Reservists are losing weekend drill pay

Monthly weekend drills for many reservists also have been canceled, eliminating a chunk of pay that can be several hundred dollars each month, military advocates said. Besides helping with mortgages and other bills, the drill money is used by some reservists to cover premiums for military health insurance, said John Hashem, executive director of the Reserve Organization of America, an advocacy group.

“People rely on that money,” Hashem said of the drill pay. “The way that this is stretching out right now, it’s almost like the service is taken for granted.”

The reserve organization, along with other groups, urged leaders in Congress in a letter Tuesday to pass a measure to pay National Guard members and reservists.

The financial strain exacerbated by the shutdown prompted the Military Family Advisory Network to set up an emergency grocery support program this month. The nonprofit said 50,000 military families signed up within 72 hours.

The food boxes were assembled in a Houston warehouse by the grocery and logistics company Umoja Health, said chief marketing officer Missy Hunter, and contained everything from noodles and spaghetti sauce to pancake mix and syrup.

Blevins said she and her husband received a box, which provided some peace of mind. In the meantime, she said, her husband is still working, coming home exhausted and with a “long gaze” in his eyes.

The couple moved to North Carolina from Camp Pendleton in California in September, drawing down their savings. They’re still waiting for roughly $9,000 in reimbursement.

“We’re constantly checking the news,” Blevins said. “And my Facebook feed is nothing but, ‘It’s the Democrats’ fault. It’s the Republicans’ fault.’ And I’m just like, can’t we just get off the blame game and get this taken care of?”

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Macalester College over its use of animals in psychology courses, although the alumnus who filed the case said Wednesday he plans to appeal the decision.

In a civil complaint filed June 3 in Hennepin County District Court, Dr. Neal Barnard said he relied on Macalester’s “false statements” over its animal testing in his decision to join the college’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee, as well as its Gift Subcommittee, and donate $100 to the St. Paul private school.

The complaint alleged one count each of fraudulent misrepresentation, false statement in advertisement and unlawful practices.

Barnard, a Maryland resident, sought, among other actions, an order compelling the St. Paul school “to cease its use of animal laboratories in psychology instruction and in all other areas for which non-animal methods are available.”

Macalester moved to dismiss Barnard’s claims, arguing that he knew about Macalester’s practices before making his donation.

“Unsatisfied with Macalester’s response to his demands that it change how it teaches psychology,” Macalester attorney Sean Somermeyer wrote in the June 26 motion memo, “(Barnard) set out to cook up a lawsuit by making a $100 donation — his first in 40 years — and claiming ‘fraud.’ ”

A hearing on the motion was held July 30 before Judge Karen Janisch, who ultimately agreed with Macalester and issued an order Tuesday dismissing the three counts.

“The court’s ruling affirms that external parties cannot interfere with or dictate curriculum,” Macalester President Suzanne Rivera said in a Wednesday statement issued by the college. “While people are entitled to personal opinions about animal use in science, the college is deeply committed to academic freedom. We respect the expertise of our faculty in what to teach and how to teach it.”

Barnard is a 1975 Macalester psychology graduate and medical doctor who founded the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates for alternatives to animal testing.

The nonprofit issued a statement Wednesday that said Barnard intends to appeal the judge’s decision.

“Medical schools dropped animal labs from their curricula years ago,” the statement quoted Barnard as saying. “Mac should, too.”

‘Make a Gift’

According to the facts of the case outlined in the judge’s order:

Macalester reached out to Barnard and other 1975 graduates in 2023 about a 50th class reunion, asking for donations for activities and whether they were interested in planning them.

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Before his donation, Barnard reviewed Macalester’s website, which stated that “animal welfare standards and ethical principles are applied at the highest possible level in any animal use or research conducted at or in association with the college.”

The same webpage included a “Make a Gift” link for making charitable donations.

Before making a donation, Barnard contacted Macalester psychology department head Janie Strauss to discuss the college’s current practices.

The two met in person on May 9, 2024, and Strauss, in response to a question from Barnard, informed him that Macalester continued to use “Skinner-inspired animal laboratories” as part of its introductory psychology courses, the judge’s order read.

In the 1920s, psychologist B.F. Skinner invented what would become known as “Skinner boxes,” which often involve starving rats or pigeons to motivate them.

Barnard told Strauss that he believed such practices are prohibited under ethical principles regarding the use of animals in science, called the “Three Rs” — for replacement, reduction and refinement.

“The Three R’s have been enshrined in some federal laws and as part of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, a standard text in the field,” the judge’s order read.

Barnard, believing the college was open to reform, then accepted an invitation to join Macalester’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee and serve on its Gift Subcommittee, the complaint said.

In his role from July 30 through Nov. 1, Barnard made phone calls, sent emails and mailed postal letters to fellow Macalester alumni assigned to him by Macalester’s fundraising staff to solicit charitable donations, according to the complaint.

Barnard met with Macalester President Suzanne Rivera and Macalester Vice Provost Paul Overvoorde on Nov. 6 to discuss his concerns. The next day, Barnard participated in person in another Gift Subcommittee meeting and afterward donated $100 to the school.

Barnard emailed Overvoorde on Nov. 15 about the college’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which oversees all scientific uses of animals by the college. Rivera then emailed Barnard on Dec. 2, instructing him to direct all future communications on animal use matters to Macalester’s legal counsel.

Judge’s conclusions

Janisch noted in the dismissal order that the only statement the college made to Barnard after the Nov. 6 meeting and his donation the next day was Rivera telling him over the phone that she would “forward [his] concerns to appropriate people.”

Janisch cited 2009 state case law, Valspar Refinish Inc. v. Gaylord Inc., that states: “When a party conducts an independent factual investigation before it enters into a commercial transaction, that party cannot later claim that it reasonably relied on the alleged misrepresentation.”

As in Valspar, Janisch concluded, Barnard’s “actual knowledge of Macalester’s practices after investigating the college’s claims, preclude him from establishing he reasonably relied on the content of (the) website statement when making his donation.”

Macalester made no separate promise to Barnard to change any practice, Janisch wrote, and therefore he “cannot, as a matter of law, establish a valid claim for fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation consistent with the facts pleaded in the complaint.”

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Barnard asserted that he had standing to bring a consumer fraud act violation claim based on the solicitation for donations and his eventual donation. He maintained that his injury and his standing are predicated on his website donation.

Janisch noted the Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act allows private civil action by a consumer who claims injury by a violation in connection with a sale of merchandise for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes.

Janisch concluded that Barnard’s knowledge of the use of animals in classroom settings before donating preclude him “from establishing that he suffered an injury caused by the alleged false statement on Macalester’s website.”

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell for the fourth week in a row to its lowest level in more than a year.

Lower mortgage rates boost homebuyers’ purchasing power. They also benefit homeowners eager to refinance their current home loan to a more attractive rate.

The average long-term mortgage rate dropped to 6.17% from 6.19% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.72%.

The last time the average rate was lower was on Oct. 3, 2024, when it was 6.12%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week. The average rate dropped to 5.41% from 5.44% last week. A year ago, it was 5.99%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

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By KEN SWEET, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The United States is running out of pennies.

President Donald Trump’s decision to stop producing the penny earlier this year is starting to have real implications for the nation’s commerce. Merchants in multiple regions of the country have run out of pennies and are unable to produce exact change. Meanwhile, banks are unable to order fresh pennies and are rationing pennies for their customers.

One convenience store chain, Sheetz, got so desperate for pennies that it briefly ran a promotion offering a free soda to customers who bring in 100 pennies. Another retailer says the lack of pennies will end up costing it millions this year, because of the need to round down to avoid lawsuits.

“It’s a chunk of change,” said Dylan Jeon, senior director of government relations with the National Retail Federation.

The penny problem started in late summer and is only getting worse as the country heads into the holiday shopping season.

To be sure, not one retailer or bank has called for the penny to stick around. Pennies, especially in bulk, are heavy and are more often than not used exclusively to give customers change. But the abrupt decision to get rid of the penny has come with no guidance from the federal government. Many stores have been left pleading for Americans to pay in exact change.

“We have been advocating abolition of the penny for 30 years. But this is not the way we wanted it to go,” said Jeff Lenard with the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Trump announced on Feb. 9 that the U.S. would no longer mint pennies, citing the high costs. Both the penny and the nickel have been more expensive to produce than they are worth for several years, despite efforts by the U.S. Mint to reduce costs. The Mint spent 3.7 cents to make a penny in 2024, according to its most recent annual report, and it spends 13.8 cents to make a nickel.

“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Treasury Department said in May that it was placing its last order of copper-zinc planchets — the blank metal disks that are minted into coins. In June, the last pennies were minted and by August, those pennies were distributed to banks and armored vehicle service companies.

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Troy Richards, president and chief operations officer at Louisiana-based Guaranty Bank & Trust Co., said he’s had to scramble to have enough pennies on hand for his customers since August.

“We got an email announcement from the Federal Reserve that penny shipments would be curtailed. Little did we know that those shipments were already over for us,” Richards said.

Richards said the $1,800 in pennies the bank had were gone in two weeks. His branches are keeping small amounts of pennies for customers who need to cash checks, but that’s it.

The U.S. Mint issued 3.23 billion pennies in 2024, the last full year of production, more than double that of the second-most minted coin in the country: the quarter. But the problem with pennies is they are issued, given as change, and rarely recirculated back into the economy. Americans store their pennies in jars or use them for decoration. This requires the Mint to produce significant sums of pennies each year.

The government is expected to save $56 million by not minting pennies, according to the Treasury Department. Despite losing money on the penny, the Mint is profitable for the U.S. government through its production of other circulating coins as well as coin proof and commemorative sets that appeal to numismatic collectors.

In 2024, the Mint made $182 million in seigniorage, which is its equivalent of profit.

Besides American’s penny hoarding habit, a logistical issue is also preventing pennies from circulating.

The distribution of coins is handled by the Federal Reserve system. Several companies, mostly armored carrier companies, operate coin terminals where banks can withdraw and deposit coins. Roughly a third of these 170 coin terminals are now closed to both penny deposits as well as penny withdrawals.

Bank lobbyists say these terminals being closed to penny deposits is exacerbating the penny shortage, because parts of the country that may have some surplus pennies are unable to get those pennies to parts of country with shortages.

“As a result of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s decision to end production of the penny, coin distribution locations accepting penny deposits and fulfilling orders will vary over time as (penny) inventory is depleted” a Federal Reserve spokeswoman said.

The lack of pennies has also become a legal minefield for stores and retailers. In some states and cities, it is illegal to round up a transaction to the nearest nickel or dime because doing so would run afoul of laws that are supposed to place cash customers and debit and credit card customers on an equal playing field when it comes to item costs.

So, to avoid lawsuits, retailers are rounding down. While two or three cents may not seem like much, that extra change can add up over tens of thousands of transactions. A spokesman for Kwik Trip, the Midwest convenience store chain, says it has been rounding down every cash transaction to the nearest nickel. That’s expected to cost the company roughly $3 million this year. Some retailers are asking customers to give their change to local or affiliated charities at the cash register, in an effort to avoid pennies as well.

A bill currently pending in Congress, known as the Common Cents Act, calls for cash transactions to be rounded to the nearest nickel, up or down. While the proposal is palatable to businesses, rounding up could be costly for consumers.

The Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment on whether they had any guidance for retailers or banks regarding the penny shortage, or the issues regarding penny circulation.

The United States is not the first country to transition away from small denomination coins or discontinue out-of-date coins. But in all of these cases, governments wound down the use of their out-of-date coins over a period of, often, years.

For example, Canada announced it would eliminate its one-cent coin in 2012, transitioning away from one-cent cash transactions starting in 2013 and is still redeeming and recycling one-cent coins a decade later. The “decimalization” process of converting British coins from farthings and shillings to a 100-pence-to-a-pound system took much of the 1960s and early 1970s.

The U.S. removed the penny from commerce abruptly, without any action by Congress or any regulatory guidance for banks, retailers or states. The retail and banking industries, rarely allies in Washington on policy matters related to point-of-sale, are demanding that Washington issue guidance or pass a law fixing the issues that are arising due to the shortage.

“We don’t want the penny back. We just want some sort of clarity from the federal government on what to do, as this issue is only going to get worse,” the NACS’ Lenard said.