U.S. troops, including those deployed to combat zones, would miss their next paycheck if Congress fails to pass a temporary spending bill that continues to fund the government beyond Friday, Task & Purpose has confirmed.
Lawmakers have until midnight on Friday to pass a temporary spending bill or else the government will shut down. Talks on how to keep the government funded collapsed on Wednesday, and House Republicans are racing to come up with a backup plan in time.
“Without an appropriation or a [continuing resolution], U.S. troops on active duty including reserve component personnel on Federal active duty, will continue to report for duty and carry out assigned duties but will not get paid during a shutdown,” a source with knowledge about the matter told Task & Purpose on Thursday.
The possibility that service members may not get paid this holiday season comes as the Pentagon has acknowledged that roughly 2,000 U.S. troops are deployed to Syria where they are engaged in Operation Inherent Resolve — the ongoing mission to defeat the Islamic State group, or ISIS. That figure is more than twice as many as the 900 that the Defense Department has long claimed were in the country.
Most of the extra service members are from the Army, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.
“That core 900, approximately 900, those are going to be your longer-term deployers — nine to 12 months, as I understand it — vs. temporary forces, which are going to rotate in on a 30- to 90-day basis — again, as it’s been explained to me — that are there to meet any type of emerging mission requirements associated with the defeat-ISIS mission,” Ryder told reporters during a Pentagon news briefing.
If the government shuts down after Friday, the U.S. military would continue to carry out its worldwide missions and service members would report for duty, but they would not get paid until Congress passed a new spending bill, Ryder said.
Ryder noted that troops got their most recent paycheck on Thursday. The next pay period occurs at the end of the month.
“Without an appropriation or continuing resolution, our troops will miss their end-of-month paycheck during the holiday season,” Ryder said. “Military reservists drilling after Dec. 20 will not receive pay for those drills. And federal civilians that are required to work during a shutdown will not be paid. Civilian employees whose work is paid for from lapsed appropriations will be furloughed for the duration of the lapse, which appears to coincide with the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.”