It's amazing what people think. I'm telling you, I will not get a paycheck if an interim budget is not passed. Sure, I'll eventually get backpay once a budget has been approved. Fortunately I have cash reserves upon which to rely until Congress gets its act together, but not every soldier with bills to pay has that luxury. EDIT: Congress wrestles over shutdown, military pay - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times Note the gamesmanship going on here: While ideological discussions on abortion and other social issues are certainly relevant in the context of an ordinary spending bill they have no place in the debate over an interim spending bill. Come up with an amount of spending you believe to be fiscally viable and get the thing passed so that federal employees aren't forced to go without paychecks. What's particularly irksome is the fact that Congress balked on approving legislation that would ensure its own members don't get paid in the event of a government shutdown. The Congressmen standing in the way of a stopgap measure are proving that they don't give a damn about the American people.