The Pay Our Troops Act would guarantee servicemembers get paid if Congress fails to pass federal funding legislation for the 2026 fiscal year by the end of the month.
Lawmakers are scrambling to ensure troops, including members of the Coast Guard, continue to receive paychecks if congressional gridlock leads to a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., this week reintroduced the Pay Our Troops Act to guarantee service members get paid if Congress fails to pass federal funding legislation for the 2026 fiscal year by the end of the month.
“As a former Navy helicopter pilot, wife of a veteran and mom of a service member, I know firsthand the sacrifices military families make every single day,” she said. “The last thing they should face is financial uncertainty caused by partisan gridlock.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., plans to bring a stopgap spending bill to the House floor this week to fund the government through Nov. 21, but Democrats have said they will oppose the measure unless it includes an extension of Affordable Care Act tax breaks.
Republicans will need the votes of at least seven Democrats to pass the legislation in the Senate and will likely need the backing of some Democrats to pass it in the House, where some fiscal conservatives are bound to withhold their support.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday accused Republicans of refusing to work with Democrats and said his party will soon release its own proposal for a short-term funding extension.
The standoff has raised fears of a shutdown that would require service members to report for duty but not get paid.
Kiggans’ legislation, which has dozens of co-sponsors, would direct that existing, unappropriated U.S. Treasury funds be used to continue paying members of the armed forces, both active and reserve duty, as well as the Coast Guard. The funds would also pay civilian employees at the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, and contractors who directly support service members.
Multiple military and veterans organizations have endorsed the bill, describing it as a “common-sense, bipartisan” measure that protects military personnel from the political uncertainty of government shutdowns.
“Our military is willing to do their job for the country, which often puts their lives at risk,” said Kathy Roth-Douquet, the CEO of the nonprofit Blue Star Families. “We just ask that Congress do their job to keep the government running and get us paid.”
The legislation would provide the same paycheck protections Congress gave service members shortly before the start of a 16-day government shutdown in 2013.
Troops were mostly unaffected during the last government shutdown in 2018-2019, but members of the Coast Guard worked without pay for more than a month because the service is operated by the Department of Homeland Security instead of the Defense Department.
Activists have warned that even one missed paycheck can put troops at serious financial risk. One in three military families has less than $3,000 in savings, according to Blue Star Families, and the Defense Department previously estimated that nearly one in four service members has trouble putting food on the table.
If Congress does not pass pay protections before a government shutdown takes effect, service members will receive back pay for any missed paychecks once federal funding resumes.
- Legislative