Military mom begs House Speaker Mike Johnson to pass bill to pay troops during shutdown: ‘My kids could die’
A self-described Republican voter has given House Speaker Mike Johnson a grim reminder of the consequences of a prolonged government shutdown.
“My kids could die,” a woman, calling herself Samantha and a Republican voter, said.
Samantha called in to speak to Johnson while he was taking questions from callers on C-SPAN on Thursday. She said she’s concerned about what will happen to her family if military service members don’t get paid next week as a result of the shutdown.
She revealed that she has “two medically fragile children” and that her husband “actively serves his country” and was twice deployed to Afghanistan.
“I think that it is awful, and the audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane,” she said.
During her call, Samantha noted comments Johnson made on Wednesday after he was asked if he would allow a vote on a bill providing members of the military with emergency pay during the shutdown.
Johnson responded by saying the Democrats were “clamoring to get back here and have another vote, because some of them want to get on record and say they’re for paying the troops.”
“We already had that vote,” Johnson said. “It’s called the [continuing resolution].”
Both the Trump administration and broader Congressional Republicans have continued to shift all responsibility for the problems caused by the shutdown onto Democrats.
Active-duty servicemembers are required to work unpaid during the shutdown. Their paychecks will stop coming next Wednesday October 15 if the Senate doesn’t pass a funding bill by then, the Military Times reports.
Many government workers, including servicemembers, should expect to receive backpay once the government shutdown comes to an end.
Democrats were holding out for an extension for expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits in an effort to prevent health insurance costs from skyrocketing for some Americans. They also were demanding a reversal of Trump’s Medicaid cuts and the removal of proposed spending cuts to a number of government health agencies.
Republicans have opted to refuse further negotiations and blame the Democrats for the problems caused by a shuttered federal government, which is now in its second week.
Samantha has bigger worries than which lawmaker will come out on top in the political game of chicken being played at the Capitol.
