Service Members Would Earn Pay During Shutdown

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2011 – Military members would continue to earn wages in the event of an April 8 shutdown of the federal government, but they’d have to wait to collect them until Congress agrees on a budget, a senior administration official said here today.

During a telephone briefing administered by the Office of Management and Budget, a senior administration official detailed the consequences of a possible federal government shutdown that will occur April 8 if Congress doesn’t agree on a budget.

Service members, the official said, “will continue to earn money” in the event of a shutdown.

But because there wouldn’t be any money to pay out to service members during a shutdown, the official said, they would have to wait to be reimbursed.

“They will be paid once we have money again to pay them,” the official said.

Some members of the Defense Department’s federal civilian work force would be exempted from a shutdown because of their work in critical areas, or because they are funded through sources outside the federal budget, the official said.

However, “a significant number of DOD civilian employees, unfortunately, would be furloughed if the government shuts down,” the official said.

Activities necessary to protecting life and property, or those whose funding comes from someplace other than the federal budget, will continue if the government shuts down April 8, the official added.