(NEXSTAR) – With some exceptions, most federal workers will not be paid during the government shutdown, including those that haven’t been furloughed and continue to work, like TSA officers or air traffic controllers.
But what about members of the military? Are active-duty personnel still getting paid for performing essential defense services?
No, they’re not. At least not immediately.
“At this date, no appropriations are in place to fund pay and allowances of active and reserve component members into FY2026,” reads a Congress.gov webpage concerning “Armed Forces Compensation During a Lapse in Appropriations.”
According to a contingency planning document drawn up by the Department of Defense ahead of Wednesday’s shutdown, there are over 2 million active military personnel currently carrying out duties for the Defense Department. There are also 741,477 civilian employees, but nearly 335,000 of them were expected to be furloughed, the document indicated. Of those that were retained, only about 182,000 will continue to be paid, as their “compensation is financed by a resource other than annual appropriations,” the department said.
Being employees of the federal government, all military members working without pay are entitled to back pay at the soonest possible date after the government is once again funded. (Military members conducting “excepted” duties during a shutdown are considered essential, and generally not eligible for traditional unemployment benefits.) But some service members and their families may have difficulty in the meantime.
The Military Times reported that some family centers and child-care services at certain military bases have been temporarily shut down, and an Armed Services YMCA providing food assistance to military families saw “a 34% increase” in demand this week, according to an official for the service.
Military members are being instructed to ask their superiors about other possible assistance programs that may be available to them, such as Army Emergency Relief. Credit unions for military members, like the Navy Federal Credit Union, may also be offering zero-interest loans until retroactive pay kicks in.
The federal government, meanwhile, could indeed take action to continue paying essential members of the military during the shutdown. As explained at Congress.gov, President Obama in September 2013 signed the Pay Our Military Act to ensure service members received their compensation during a two-week shutdown in October of that year.
President Trump signed a similar act ahead of a shutdown in 2018, but it did not include continued pay for members of the Coast Guard, drawing criticism from the then-commandant of the USCG.
Whatever the case, the U.S. military will continue to operate amid a shutdown — pay or no pay.
“The department will continue to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations,” reads the Department of Defense’s recent planning document. “It will continue activities funded with any available budgetary resources that have not lapsed (e.g., funds made available in Pub. L. 119-21), as well as excepted activities such as those necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of property.”
