WASHINGTON — More than 1 million military members may not receive their paychecks next week if the federal shutdown continues to drag on, but lawmakers remain deadlocked on a bill to reopen the government before that happens.
Service members are scheduled to be paid on Oct. 15, which falls on Wednesday of next week. But legislation reopening the government and appropriating federal dollars would need to be passed by Congress before Oct. 13, according to lawmakers — making it likely military families won’t get paid until the end of the month at the earliest.
“The hardworking men and women at Hill Air Force Base and our servicemembers across the country should not have to bear the brunt of the Democrats’ politically motivated shutdown,” Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, told the Deseret News, referencing the major Air Force base located in Davis County. “Senate Democrats have been given a daily opportunity to vote for the nonpartisan, clean continuing resolution to fund the government and provide pay for our military, and every day they have voted it down. I continue to urge them to put Americans — including our troops — first.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested he wouldn’t bring the House back into session to vote on a standalone bill ensuring military members receive their scheduled paycheck next week in case the government shutdown is still in effect.
Johnson said House Democrats have been “clamoring” to return to vote on contingency legislation and soften the blow of shutdown consequences, but he maintained that the onus is on Democrats in the Senate to pass the Republican-led spending resolution. Until they do that, Johnson said, the House will remain out of session.
“Some of them want to get on record and say they were paying the troops. We already had that vote. It’s called the CR,” Johnson said on Wednesday, referring to the continuing resolution that would extend 2025 fiscal year spending levels. “Of course, we want to pay our troops and our air traffic controllers and our border patrol agents and TSA and everybody else. We did have that vote in the House. It was three weeks ago, and every Democrat in the House, except one, voted against it.”
Johnson’s latest stance is meant to pressure Democrats in the Senate to drop their demands on health care policy and support the temporary spending resolution proposed by Republicans. But so far, Democrats appear even more dug in — accusing Johnson of using military pay as a negotiating tactic.
“This is Day 19 that the House has been out,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who has so far voted against the GOP-led resolution despite supporting it in March, told the Deseret News. “If he’s serious, then one would think he’d be interested in talking to people. But so far, he hasn’t shown that he is.”
Senate Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated with Johnson, with some even trying to place the blame of a shutdown on his shoulders. Lawmakers pointed to the fact the House has been out of session since Sept. 19, telling the Deseret News it shows Johnson is not engaging in good faith.
“If I were Mike Johnson, I would show up at work,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told the Deseret News on Wednesday. “I think that there’s a broad recognition that in order to get something done, you have to actually convene the House of Representatives. And to be clear, this is not a scheduled break, this is an unscheduled recess. So it’s wacky that they think they can get away with this.”
Democrats have acknowledged concerns that military members and other federal employees could miss their regularly scheduled compensation by next week, but have used those deadlines as an argument for bipartisan negotiations — something Republicans have ruled out until the government reopens.
“Well, I always worry when people are going to miss paychecks,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has engaged in bipartisan talks behind the scenes, said on Wednesday. “So it’s our soldiers and all government employees, air traffic controllers, TSA agents. I worry about all of that, and hopefully we can resolve it sooner rather than later.”
House Republicans get antsy about prolonged recess
As House members come to the end of their third straight week out of session, some lawmakers are growing impatient with Republican leadership — including those within the GOP conference.
Johnson has repeatedly argued that the House does not need to come back to Washington amid the shutdown because they have “done our job.” But that justification is not sitting well with all members in his party, with some now openly calling to return.
“What the House has done is pass a 7-week Continuing Resolution,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., wrote in a post on X. “The entire reason a CR is necessary is that Congress has not done its job in passing a timely budget. The Speaker shouldn’t even think about cancelling session for a third straight week.”
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., has also urged a return, particularly to give lawmakers an opportunity to vote on her bill that would guarantee pay for military members during the shutdown.
“I’m urging the Speaker and our House leadership to immediately pass my bill to ensure our servicemembers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck while supporting their families, receive the pay they’ve earned,” Kiggans wrote in a post on X. “Military pay should not be held hostage due to Washington’s dysfunction!”