By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Republicans and Democrats faced another looming deadline as a government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday: payday for active-duty military service members.
If the standoff between President Donald Trump’s Republicans and congressional Democrats does not end in the next week, 1.3 million active-duty military, hundreds of thousands of active members of the National Guard and civilians who work for the Defense Department will not be paid on October 15 as scheduled.
Service members remain on duty despite the shutdown that began on October 1. Their work is deemed essential for national security.
An agreement to end the shutdown — or to pass separate legislation to pay the troops — seemed unlikely on Monday.
Members of the two parties remained at an impasse and the White House threatened to ramp up pressure by ordering more layoffs of federal workers, after cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs earlier this year.
Congressional aides said legislation would have to pass by October 13 for the troops’ payroll to process on time given the number of people involved.
‘ALL COMING’
Trump addressed this issue on Sunday in a speech marking the Navy’s 250th anniversary. He promised that service members would get all of their back pay and said he would support a raise. “Don’t worry about it, it’s all coming,” Trump said.
Congress sets military pay rates and lawmakers have proposed a raise of 3.8% in a defense authorization bill expected to pass by the end of 2025. The provision is backed by both Republicans and Democrats.
The non-profit National Military Family Association has asked the public to write to Congress demanding that they pass legislation to pay the troops. An NMFA spokesperson said nearly 35,000 such letters had been sent to lawmakers by Monday.
Members of Congress pride themselves on supporting service members, who put their lives on the line for national security, and have ensured they would be paid during past shutdowns.
When government offices closed in 2013, members of the military were paid because Congress passed a separate “Pay Our Military Act.” This year, Republican Representative Jen Kiggans of Virginia introduced a similar bill, the “Pay Our Troops Act,” but it did not pass before the House of Representatives left Washington last month.
The House was out of session last week, and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said it would be away this week as well, with members told only they could be called back with 48 hours’ notice of any votes.
By Friday, the Kiggans-led bill had 91 co-sponsors from both parties, but the NMFA said it had seen no indication that House leaders intended to bring the measure up for a vote.
Aides to Kiggans did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Advocates for military families have also said they are concerned about the threat to food assistance for millions of low-income Americans, including many members of the military, because of the shutdown. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, is critically low on funds.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman)
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