New Act Guarantees Military Paychecks During Government Shutdowns, Retroactive to September 2025

The “Pay Our Military Act of 2025” is straightforward: it’s a legislative insurance policy designed to shield active duty military personnel and their essential support staff from the financial chaos of a government funding lapse. If Congress hasn’t passed the full budget for fiscal year 2026, this bill automatically appropriates—meaning it sets aside—all the necessary money to cover military pay, allowances, food, and travel costs (Sec. 2).

The Automatic Paycheck Guarantee

Think of this as an automatic overdraft protection for the troops. If the budget clock hits midnight and Congress is still arguing, this Act kicks in to ensure that paychecks don’t stop. This covers not just the service members themselves, but also the civilian Department of Defense (DoD) employees and contractors who are deemed essential for supporting those service members (Sec. 2). For a military family relying on that bi-weekly direct deposit to cover rent and groceries, this provision means stability, preventing the need to take out high-interest loans just because of political gridlock.

Fine Print on the Funding

While the bill guarantees the money is available, there are rules about spending it. The emergency funding can only be used if there is no other temporary funding already in place. This is designed to be a backup, not a replacement, for the standard continuing resolutions Congress often passes. Once the final FY 2026 budget is eventually signed into law, any money spent under this Act will be officially charged against the proper budget line items in that new law (Sec. 2). The authority granted by this entire Act has a hard stop date, automatically expiring on September 30, 2026, or earlier if a full budget for that period is passed (Sec. 3).

The Retroactive Catch

One key detail is the effective date. Even if the bill were signed into law later in 2026, it is designed to apply retroactively, meaning it acts as if it has been in effect since September 30, 2025 (Sec. 4). This retroactive application is crucial. It ensures that if a funding gap occurs right at the start of the fiscal year—when the old budget expires—there’s no administrative or pay gap for service members. It’s a necessary mechanism to guarantee continuous pay from day one of the new fiscal year.

Who Gets Paid and Who Decides

While the military pay provisions are tightly defined, there is one area where discretion is involved: paying contractors. The bill allows payments to DoD contractors only if the relevant Secretary (usually the Secretary of Defense) decides they are "providing necessary support to the Armed Forces" (Sec. 2). This gives the Secretary considerable leeway in defining who is essential and who gets paid during a funding lapse. While the intent is clearly to maintain critical functions, this level of administrative discretion means the Secretary holds the keys to who among the defense support industry gets paid during a shutdown.