Troop pay is no longer in jeopardy after Congress approved legislation early Saturday to keep the government funded through mid-March and prevent a holiday season government shutdown.
Passage of the bill in the Senate came right up to the precipice of a shutdown heightening anxiety that service members could miss paychecks due to them at the end of the month at a time when financial stressors could be adding up because of the holidays.
With the stopgap spending measure approved by the Senate shortly after midnight, technically occurring right after government funding expired but before any shutdown could be put into effect, troops’ paychecks scheduled for Dec. 31 will be uninterrupted.
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House Republicans spent the last few days scrambling to come up with an alternative plan to extend federal funding and keep the government open after President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close ally of Trump’s, trashed a previous bipartisan deal on a stopgap spending measure.
By Thursday afternoon, House Republicans came up with a plan that Trump and Musk supported. But almost all Democrats and 38 Republicans voted against that plan, sending GOP House leaders back to the drawing board.
Amid the political back-and-forth, the Pentagon warned of serious consequences to the military during a shutdown, including the fact that troops would have to continue working while facing the possibility that the paycheck scheduled to go out at the end of the month would be delayed.
“Objectively speaking, a lapse in funding will cause serious disruptions across the Defense Department,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a news conference Thursday as he said the department was urging lawmakers to come to an agreement.
Other major effects of a government shutdown on the military would have included restricting travel unless it’s essential for national security, shuttering some on-base day care centers unless they are “required for readiness,” limiting elective medical care, and canceling some recreational activities during the holiday season.
The bill that was ultimately approved was essentially the same as the one voted down on Thursday, minus an extension of U.S. borrowing authority that Trump had demanded. It is also very similar to the original bipartisan agreement that Musk and Trump trashed, minus some policy provisions that they took issue with.
Under the bill, the government will be funded through March 14 at the same levels it currently is.
One major difference between that passed and what was originally proposed earlier this week is that the final bill does not include a provision to transfer a fighter jet squadron to the Maryland National Guard.
Related: Troop Pay Could Be Delayed Under Elon Musk-Inspired Government Shutdown