WASHINGTON — Coast Guard personnel haven’t needed food stamps before, but with their salaries suspended due to the partial government shutdown, they may become eligible for help. The problem, though, is that funding may run out before they have a chance to apply for benefits if the government remains closed.

To address the problem, Gov. Phil Murphy and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooker asked President Donald Trump on Friday to create a new fund to allow them to receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. The state is giving next month’s benefits early because of the shutdown to those already eligible.

“If the federal government will not pay them their salary, we must ensure that they have the resources to provide for themselves and their families,” Murphy wrote in a letter also signed by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a fellow Democrat.

“They and their families have sacrificed so much for this country, and, through no fault of their own, are in danger of not receiving the help they need,” the letter said. “Such a result should be unthinkable in our great country, and we urge you to take steps to prevent it from becoming a reality.”

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, D-2nd Dist., has introduced legislation to fund the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration so their employees can be paid.

The shutdown, already the longest ever, moves into its fifth week Saturday. It began Dec. 22 after Trump refused to sign legislation funding federal agencies unless it also included more than $5 billion in taxpayer funds for a southern border wall the president had promised Mexico would pay for.

Then there was this announcement late Friday.

Murphy’s letter came a day after he blasted Trump for the shutdown, calling his actions “juvenile — and that’s insulting juveniles.”

“Our brave service members continue to patrol New Jersey’s coastline and protect our country without pay due to President Trump’s shameful shutdown,” Murphy said Friday. “These families have sacrificed so much for us to enjoy our freedom. If President Trump’s shutdown must continue, he needs to provide assistance for those whose livelihoods are hanging in the balance while he plays politics in Washington.”

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., met with Coast Guard families as well as air traffic controllers and federal agency employees in Montclair Friday. Around 800,000 federal workers, including more than 5,000 in New Jersey, have working without pay or furloughed.

“Good, hardworking New Jerseyans are needlessly suffering," Menendez said. “Across our state, families are struggling to make rent, pay their mortgage, buy food and medicines, and even cover their kid’s college tuition."

House Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to vote on two more spending bills next week, but Senate Republicans are refusing to bring up any legislation reopen the government, even though they passed almost identical measures last month.

Trump used the shutdown to begin a new round of fundraising for his 2020 re-election campaign, asking supporters to buy “bricks” to send to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

That campaign is full of misrepresentations, however. The bricks are emblazoned with claims to support a border wall, such as enough fentanyl enters through the southern border “to kill every American.” But independent fact-checkers quoted the Drug Enforcement Administration as saying that a wall would have no impact because most drugs coming into the U.S. from Mexico are smuggled through existing ports of entry.

The fundraising email also claimed that “Americans not only want the wall, they demand the wall,” except that every independent poll showed the opposite and that a majority of Americans blamed Trump, not congressional Democrats, for the shutdown.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.