Upper Peninsula Congressman Jack Bergman supported legislation alongside Rep. Jen Kiggans, which would ensure members of the U.S. military are paid in the event of a government shutdown.
The Pay Our Troops Act would protect members of the military as well as certain U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors should Congress fail to provide temporary or full-year federal funding by September 30, 2023.
Currently, if the government shuts down without a funding bill for the Department of Defense signed into law, those serving in our Armed Forces will not receive their paychecks. Only those deemed “essential” would receive backpay once a shutdown ends and new federal funding is approved.
Rep. Bergman noted, “Our troops safeguard and protect our Nation; they deserve to be paid, regardless of the continual dysfunction in Washington. While funding negotiations go on, our men and women in uniform and their families should not have to worry if they will receive a paycheck if a lapse of funding occurs.”
“I will not allow the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our country go without pay,” said Congresswoman Kiggans. “Our servicemembers shouldn’t suffer because of Washington’s dysfunction. As we continue working to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month, this legislation will give our troops the financial certainty they deserve. At a time where inflation and interest rates continue to hurt our military families, we must continue to get our economy back on track by cutting wasteful spending, but we must also ensure our military gets a paycheck.”
Based on the latest Defense Department survey of U.S. troops, some 286,800 in the active-duty force — or nearly one in four military servicemembers — experience “low food security.” The figures do not count the spouses or children of those troops, nor do the numbers include reservists and their families.
According to the Pentagon, there are about 804,000 civilian defense employees. Roughly 166,000 of those employees do not rely on congressional funding and would continue to work during a shutdown. Almost 200,000 would be required to work without pay because they are considered “necessary to protect life and property.”
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