Government shutdown would put pay for over 1M military members at risk, Pentagon says

A government shutdown would harm military readiness and have “huge, profound impacts across the globe,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Tuesday morning.

With a looming government shutdown, over 1 million military members and furloughed civilian employees are at risk of going without pay during the shutdown period, Singh said on CNN, adding that a shutdown would send a dangerous message to Washington’s adversaries.

“If the U.S. government shuts down, China, Russia, North Korea, Iran — these are countries that are not shutting down, that are continuing their operations,” she said. “Any type of shutdown, any type of impact to our military and readiness, has huge, profound impacts across the globe.”

An immediate impact could be having command costs and stations without enough personnel to continue missions, Singh said, also underscoring the struggles that military families with children and mortgages would face.

When the government last shut down in 2018, lawmakers passed a measure allowing for military personnel to continue being paid throughout the period. When asked if she’d support such a measure, Singh initially dodged — blaming lawmakers for putting Washington’s national security at risk.

Pressed on the issue, she conceded: “Of course we are always going to support any pay for our military families,” Singh said. “But again, we really shouldn't be in this position.”

Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R-Va.) introduced the Pay Our Troops Act last week, resembling efforts during past shutdowns to send military members paychecks. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has brought forward similar legislation.