The bill’s passage also would pay civilian employees and contractors at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security who support the armed forces, Husted’s office said.
The current lapse in funding for the federal government began Oct. 1.
“There are 10,792 active-duty military members who call Ohio home, and we owe it to them to ensure they receive their pay, regardless of what is happening in Washington,” Husted said in a statement.
In an interview Thursday, Husted said the military could be paid in three ways. First, if Congress passes what he called “a clean CR (continuing resolution),” funding the government for seven weeks.
Second, the military could be paid through passage of the full defense appropriations bill. Husted called that option “How government is supposed to work.”
But if Congress can’t or won’t take those two traditional measures, then Husted says he has signed on to this bill, which also sees to the payment of civilian employees and contractors.
“But it’s completely unnecessary to do that if we just do either of the first two things,” Husted said.
Husted noted that the Department of Defense did find funds to pay the military this week. But beyond this week, matters quickly become uncertain for the troops.
“There’s no identified resource to pay them right now,” for a second time, Husted said.
Military personnel are required to continue reporting for duty during a shutdown.
On Wednesday, a Pentagon official told the Dayton Daily News that uniformed members of the military had been paid, although some members said online they they had been paid too much or too little compared to expected amounts.
No civilian employees of the Department of Defense had been paid, however, the official also said.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is home to about 38,000 military and civilian employees.
Husted said he also backs the “No Budget, No Pay” Act. This bill would prohibit lawmakers from receiving salaries until both the House and the Senate fund the government.
“I don’t think any of us should get paid until the government is re-opened,” Husted said, adding: “That’s why I’m also foregoing my pay.”
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