Colorado business owner still waiting to be paid for $830K contract from the federal government 7 months later

As the government shutdown stretches into a third week, federal workers aren't the only ones struggling to pay their bills. Thousands of federal contractors are also waiting on paychecks that may never come, including a Colorado Springs contractor who says she hasn't been paid for work she did in March.

A national security contractor, Jessica Lee travels the world, meeting with foreign diplomats, military leaders, police, and judicial officials to study practices, partnerships, and programs that U.S. tax dollars support.

"We make sure that they're achieving the results we want them to achieve, that we're building partnerships with foreign partners that are going to come to our aid when we need it," she told CBS News Colorado. "We have a limited amount money so we should use it to the greatest effect we can."

Lee's company, 413, has secured dozens of federal contracts since it launched 8 years ago. She now employs 10 people, down from 15 earlier this year when DOGE -- Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency -- began slashing federal spending, including contract work.

"We thought 'It will come back' because we're doing things in line with the administration's priorities," she said.

Instead, she says, things got worse. In March, Lee completed an 8-month project for the U.S. Institute of Peace, just before DOGE – which at the time was headed by Elon Musk -- shuttered the agency.

"We thought 'Well, it'll take them a little while to kind of sort things out and then they'll settle accounts and it'll be fine."

Seven months later, she can't even get a call back, let alone payment.

She says she's owed $830,000, "which is a lot for a company our size." 

Between her savings and two other government contracts, she's managed to stay afloat -- until two weeks ago when the government shut down. While she continues to work, she doesn't know if, or when, she'll be paid and her savings have run dry.

"We don't know what the resolution is. We've spent down to keep all our folks employed that we don't have funding to employ lawyers or anything like that. It is very hard," she said.

Under the federal Prompt Payment Act, she should have received pay within 30 days. She contacted members of Colorado's congressional delegation for help. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican Rep. Jeff Crank, who represents Colorado Springs, are trying to get her the money she's owed, but even they are having trouble.

Lee has just enough cash, she says, to make one more payroll.

"We'll figure it out. We won't go under, I hope. You know, it's the federal government. It has to work out," she said.