Shutdown Would Pause Pay For US Troops, Not Ukraine

A looming government shutdown would render many U.S. service members without pay — despite the fact that they would continue to show up to work. Adding insult to injury, a slew of civilians working for the Department of Defense are most likely to be furloughed.

Don’t worry. Ukraine will not pay the price as the two sides of our nation fail to come together in agreement over yet another spending bill. Should Americans actually be concerned? While Congress hasn’t passed a budget on schedule in 20 years, the likelihood of a shutdown in this climate wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone paying attention.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told ABC News on Good Morning America on Friday, “Those 1.3 million active-duty troops won’t get paid.”

House Republicans are pushing for provisions that would see to it that U.S. troops and civilian workers are still paid during the shutdown.

That being said, many services routinely available to service members and civilians on posts and military bases across the country would face restrictions. Some patients would be forced to postpone medical and dental procedures as a result of the shutdown, too.

Many military personnel rely on commissaries for household goods and grocery shopping, but the shutdown would close all commissaries inside of the U.S. Meanwhile, commissaries overseas would not face the same penalty.

Military recruitment would take further hits, being placed on pause until the government resumes operations. This comes at a time when recruitment in nearly every branch has hit record lows during Biden’s term.

The resounding message the Biden Administration is sending to the American people — and the rest of the world — is that Joe Biden and the Pentagon have put the alleged needs of Ukraine ahead of those of America. Is anyone really surprised?

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DOD spokesperson Chris Sherwood made it clear that activities supporting Ukraine are exempt from being impacted by the government shutdown.

What does all of this mean? If the government shuts down this weekend, the U.S. military will be penalized nearly across the board — except where activity used to protect Ukraine and perpetuate their war with Russia is concerned.

The irony of what Biden and the Pentagon are saying isn’t lost on Americans. The pressure is on to pass the spending bill so that the U.S. military can be paid. At the same time, they’re claiming pay for U.S. troops comes second to Ukraine. Where do our government’s priorities truly lie?

Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) is one of many congress members working to get these provisions passed. He told Fox News they are working to prevent the shutdown, but should it happen, we need “reassurance for people, a group of people that I care very passionately about and that the country needs to be prioritizing, and that’s our military.”

Currently, all of America is waiting for the Democrats to get their priorities in order. Ultimately, if our politicians are not doing their jobs correctly, do we have to question ourselves for putting them into office?

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