Troops will miss paychecks next week without action on the government
shutdown
[October 10, 2025]
By BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Heather Campbell lost her job working for a food bank
over the summer because of federal funding cuts. Her husband serves as
an officer in the Air Force, but now he’s facing the prospect of missing
his next paycheck because of the government shutdown.
If lawmakers in Washington don't step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get
paid on Wednesday. Because the couple lacks the savings to cover all
their expenses, they expect to survive on credit cards to pay the
mortgage and feed their three children, racking up debt as the political
stalemate drags on.
“You’re asking us to put our lives on the line or the people we love to
put their lives on the line,” said Campbell, 39, who lives outside
Montgomery, Alabama, near Maxwell Air Force Base. “And you’re not even
going to give us our paycheck. What? There is a lot of broken trust
there.”
The nation’s third shutdown in 12 years is once again raising anxiety
levels among service members and their families because those in uniform
are working without pay. While they would receive back pay once the
impasse ends, many military families live paycheck to paycheck. During
previous shutdowns, Congress passed legislation to ensure that troops
kept earning their salaries, but time is running out before they miss
their first paycheck in less than a week.
“There are so many things that Congress can’t agree on right now,” said
Kate Horrell, the wife of a Navy veteran whose Washington, D.C., company
provides financial advice to military families. “I don’t want to assume
that they’re going to be able to agree on this.”
Paying the troops has support, but it's unclear when a deal might
pass
When asked if he would support a bill to pay the troops, President
Donald Trump said, “that probably will happen.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Trump said Wednesday. “Our military is always
going to be taken care of.”
Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican and former Navy helicopter
pilot, has introduced a measure to maintain military and Coast Guard
salaries, and it has bipartisan co-sponsors.
The House is closed for business until next week, leaving two days to
take action before Wednesday's payday. Missed paychecks for military
service members are among the most serious pressure points in the
shutdown, causing political pain for the lawmakers. Several proposals
have been floated for voting on stand-alone legislation that would
ensure no interruption in pay, but those are not expected to be brought
up for consideration, for now.
Amanda Scott, whose husband is an Air Force officer in Colorado, said
the uncertainty goes beyond the stress of just getting by — it chips
away at the military’s ability to retain the best people and their
readiness to fight.
“How ready and lethal are you if you don’t know if you can feed your
family?” said Scott, 33, of Colorado Springs, who works for a defense
contractor and volunteers as an advocate for military families. “A lot
of these service members are highly skilled and can go out and make much
more money in the civilian sector.”
Aid is available for service members, but it's not enough for some
families
Support is available for military families through nonprofits and
charities. For example, some financial institutions are offering
zero-interest loans, while each military branch has a relief
organization.
But Campbell said she and her husband in Alabama can't apply for a
payday loan because they're refinancing their house. They lack a
substantial emergency fund because they were paying off student loans
and moved several times in the last few years to military posts. It was
often challenging for her to find steady work and child care.
“The opportunity to build up savings is really difficult on just one
income,” Campbell said. “I don’t know many military families that have a
month’s worth of income set aside just in case, let alone multiple
months' worth.”
[to top of second column]
|
Heather and Dan Campbell, in Montgomery, Ala., Oct. 2024. (Heather
Campbell via AP)
Jen Cluff, whose husband recently left the Air Force, said her
family was on a food aid program during the 2019 shutdown. But even
the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and
Children, also known as WIC, which helps more than 6 million
low-income mothers and young children, would run out of federal
money within two weeks unless the shutdown ends, experts say.
“We made so little and had three young children,” said Cluff, 42, of
San Antonio. “We were definitely a family that had very little
buffer.”
If Congress had not passed legislation to pay troops during the last
shutdown, missing more than two paychecks “would have been
catastrophic for us,” she said.
“Resentment can grow quickly,” Cluff said of the shutdown, adding
that “the general public, and many in government, truly don’t
understand the daily sacrifices our military members and their
families make for our country.”
Wider effects feared in military-heavy areas
The economic impact will ripple through regions with large military
footprints, like coastal Virginia, home to the nation’s largest Navy
base and several other installations. The area's 88,000 active duty
service members and their families likely have pulled back
significantly on spending, said Rick Dwyer, executive director of
the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, an
advocacy group.
“Think about service members who are deployed right now around the
world,” said Dwyer, who served in the Air Force during previous
shutdowns. “They’re having to wonder if their families are going to
be able to pay the rent, the child care bills, the car payments.”
A shutdown contingency plan posted on the Pentagon’s website cites
the use of funds to continue military operations from Trump's big
tax and spending cut bill. The Congressional Budget Office has said
money appropriated to the Defense Department under the new law could
be used to pay active duty personnel.
It was not clear if the funding would be used for that. The Pentagon
said Thursday that it could not provide information “at this time.”
Its contingency plan says it will “continue to defend the nation and
conduct ongoing military operations” as well as activities
“necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of
property.”
Listed among the highest priorities are securing the U.S.-Mexico
border, operations in the Middle East and the future Golden Dome
missile defense program. The plan also noted that “child care
activities required for readiness” would continue.
Raleigh Smith Duttweiler, chief impact officer for the National
Military Family Association, said most child development centers on
military bases are still operating. But she said most service
members pay for child care off base.
“Last I checked, my kids' babysitter doesn’t take an IOU from the
federal government,” said Duttweiler, whose husband is a Marine.
——
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to
this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
