Why is this shutdown, if one occurs, not like the others in recent history? U.S. military servicemembers, who have to report for duty anyway because of the critical nature of their jobs, wouldn’t get paid.
During the prolonged partial government shutdowns in late 1995-early 1996, 2013 and late 2018-early 2019 — the longest in modern history at 21, 16 and 34 days, respectively — active-duty military and reservists received their salaries during the funding lapses.
That’s because the full-year Defense appropriations bill had already become law or, in the case of the October 2013 shutdown, Congress preemptively passed legislation guaranteeing military pay. With no enacted Defense bill even close, the only chance for military servicemembers to still get their paychecks if there’s a shutdown is for lawmakers to go the 2013 route.
