Pay SSI and Federal Retirement benefits on time

For three of the last four months my Federal Employee Pension payment has been late. According to the FEP they are supposed to pay my pension "around" the 20th of the month. Each month they send a debit memo to my Credit Union but "hold" the actual funds until later. The net effect is that I can't pay my electric bill (due on the 24th) until the funds come in and that makes me late every month. I am living on SSI, FEP and a pension from my company. I literally don't have the money to "save" enough to pay my electric bill the following month. The late payments except October have come during the months that congress was haggling over the debt ceiling. I don't know what drove the October delay - maybe a ploy by the Republicans to turn Federal Employees toward the GOP.