Congress weighs bill to pay 3 million troops facing missed paycheck
If the federal government remains shut down next week, approximately three million military service members will miss a paycheck on Oct. 15. It’s a reality Democrats call “unacceptable,” and they’re trying to pressure House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., into bringing up a standalone bill specifically for the troops.
“Shame on the Republicans for remaining on vacation and even refusing to pay our troops because of their continued effort to gut the health care of the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Wednesday.
Ten Democrats wrote a letter to Speaker Johnson urging him to bring forward bipartisan legislation to pay uniformed, civilian and contract Defense Department employees throughout the shutdown.
“I believe that we should pay our men and women in uniform, and I support the effort of our members to make sure that takes place,” Jeffries said.
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There are approximately 5 million civilian and military federal employees not being paid due to the government shutdown.
Speaker Johnson called the bill a red herring and has repeated that if Democrats are concerned about federal employees not getting paid, they should vote for the continuing resolution that will temporarily fund the government for seven weeks.
“[Democrats] want to get on record and say they’re for paying the troops. We already had that vote. It’s called the CR,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “Every Republican and at least one Democrat had the common sense to say, of course, we want the government to stay in operation, of course, we want to pay our troops.”
Johnson said individual bills that don’t address the shutdown, like ones specifically to pay the troops, are “show votes.” Democrats called his description disrespectful.
The only voting that took place on Capitol Hill on Wednesday was in the Senate, where two separate funding bills were shot down.
The two bills were voted on for the sixth time: the Republican continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government for seven weeks and the Democrats’ bill to temporarily fund the government, repeal Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans in July and make permanent the Obamacare premium tax credits that expire at the end of the year.
There isn’t any progress being made on a negotiation.
Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to pressure Democrats to agree to a one-year extension of Obamacare tax credits that help Americans pay their premiums. Without an extension, the credits will expire at the end of the year, and premiums are expected to increase significantly for many who get their insurance through the federal online marketplace.
Not all Republicans support an extension because they believe the program is too expensive and was only expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is circulating his bill, trying to get Democrats to sign on as sponsors.
“Oh, you mean the bill that I’m signed on to extend it? Oh yeah, right. We actually have put forth legislation to do it. You guys just keep pontificating,” Lawler said in a confrontation with Democratic senators. “How about you go down the hall and vote to open the government up?”
Democrats call that proposal a nonstarter. They contend that the tax credits should be made permanent.
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