S 3002119th CongressIn Committee

Pay Our Military Act of 2025

Introduced: Oct 9, 2025

Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-Alaska)

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

Pay Our Military Act of 2025 would create a continuing appropriation for FY2026 to ensure pay and allowances for armed forces personnel and certain civilian and contractor personnel during any period in which interim or full-year appropriations are not in effect due to a government shutdown. Specifically, it would authorize funds from the Treasury (not otherwise appropriated) to pay active-duty service members and reserve components, DoD civilian employees, Coast Guard civilian personnel under DHS, and DoD/DHS contractors providing support to those service members. The bill designates the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security as the responsible officials for determining which civilian staff and contractors qualify for pay under this authority. The continuation of payments would last until the earliest of: a enacted appropriation for any purpose in section 2, the enactment of a regular or continuing appropriation without this pay provision, or January 1, 2027. In short, the bill aims to prevent any disruption to military pay during a funding gap by authorizing a temporary, targeted continuing appropriation focused on paying personnel who support military operations, with a built-in sunset date or conditions for termination.

Key Points

1Continuation of pay and allowances for FY2026 for active-duty military personnel and reserve components during a funding gap, ensuring their compensation continues if appropriations lapse.
2Coverage extends to DoD civilian employees (and Coast Guard civilians under DHS) who the Secretary concerned determines are providing support to the affected military personnel.
3Coverage also includes DoD and DHS contractors who the Secretary concerned determines are providing support to those military personnel.
4The term “Secretary concerned” refers to the Secretary of Defense for DoD matters and the Secretary of Homeland Security for Coast Guard matters.
5Funding is explicitly “out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,” creating a continuing appropriation to fund these payments for the period of disruption, with a sunset/termination trigger.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Active-duty and reserve-component military personnel who would receive pay and allowances during a funding lapse.- DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees deemed by the Secretaries to be supporting those military personnel.- DoD and DHS contractors providing essential support to those military personnel.Secondary group/area affected- Departmental budgets and payroll operations: the bill creates a limited, alternative funding stream during a shutdown, potentially affecting budgeting and administrative processes within DoD and DHS.- Government shutdown dynamics: by guaranteeing pay for the specified personnel, the bill could influence labor and operational continuity considerations during funding gaps.Additional impacts- Legal/administrative considerations: uses a continuing appropriation mechanism, potentially raising questions about compliance with existing anti-deficiency constraints and the criteria used by Secretaries to designate eligible civilian and contractor personnel.- Fiscal considerations: the exact cost is not specified; the bill delegates determining “such sums as are necessary,” which could result in substantial expenditures depending on the length of a funding gap and the number of personnel and contractors covered.- Sunset and termination: payments would end when an applicable appropriation is enacted (with or without this provision) or on January 1, 2027, providing a built-in end date but also introducing uncertainty for any shutdown extending beyond that date.

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