Democrats in the House and moderate Republicans joined Speaker McCarthy to pass a 45 day continuing resolution to keep the government open through November 17. While this averted an immediate crisis in our government.
Congress must continue working to pass a budget in order in the next 45 days. If not, we will once again face a deadline where the government could shut down. The conservative faction in the House Republican caucus, led by Congressman Matt Gaetz, cast the 90 "NO" votes against the budget resolution continue to challenge Speaker McCarthy and have vowed to file a "motion to vacate" the Speaker; putting politics over the budget priorities and leaving open the possibility for a shutdown in November and December.
When Government Shuts Down Our Military Does Not Get Paid, But Must Show Up to Work
When Congress fails to fund the government it shuts down. This means that federal agencies are legally obligated to furlough employees and cease funding programs and services deemed unessential.
The political divisions in the Republican led Congress continues and as a result many families are impacted in a variety of different ways. It remains unclear what the cost and impact on our economy, our healthcare, and our public infrastructure will be.
Most concerning is the burden these political divides continue to place upon our military families and veterans. Specifically, active military will remain deployed and required to show up at posts and bases in the United States and around the world despite their paychecks being halted.
According to Sabrina Singh, Deputy Press Secretary of the Pentagon: “If there is a shutdown in just a few days, our service members would be required to continue working but would be doing so without pay, and hundreds and thousands of their civilian colleagues would be furloughed. A government shutdown is a worst-case scenario for the department, so we continue to ask Congress to do its job and fund the government.”
And while essential Veteran services will remain in place, a number of services that veterans rely on will cease. Military Times reports that “Veterans seeking employment advice or general information on department services, however, will find those offices closed. And every military base, stateside or overseas will see some changes to normal operations for the duration of the shutdown.”
Every federal agency is required to submit a contingency plan. To learn more about the impact to Military and Veterans you can read contingency plans here.