S. 2328Senate115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

Pay Our Military Act of 2018

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 7:59 PM UTC

The Pay Our Military Act of 2018 ensures that military personnel, eligible civilians, and contractors continue to receive pay and death benefits if a government shutdown occurs during fiscal year 2018. It does this by allowing the Treasury to provide the necessary funds until normal appropriations are passed or the fiscal year ends. The bill applies to active‑duty service members, reservists, DoD and Coast Guard civilian staff, and contractors supporting them.

Key Provisions

If a government shutdown occurs in FY 2018, the bill authorizes the use of any unallocated Treasury money to keep paying active‑duty service members, reservists on drill, and eligible civilian employees of the Defense Department and Coast Guard.
It also provides funds to pay death benefits to families of service members who die during the shutdown period.
The bill extends pay and allowances to DoD and Coast Guard contractors who are supporting the armed forces during the shutdown.
The “Secretary concerned” (the Defense Secretary for DoD matters and the Homeland Security Secretary for Coast Guard matters) decides which civilian personnel and contractors qualify for these payments.
The temporary funding ends when a regular or continuing appropriations bill is enacted, when an appropriation for the same purpose is passed, or on September 30, 2018, whichever comes first.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

Appropriations Committee

January 19, 2018

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

January 19, 2018

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

Appropriations Committee

January 19, 2018

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about S. 2328 on the floor

1 Democrat

Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · Jan 19, 2018

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · Jan 19, 2018

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued January 19, 2018

115th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2328

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 19, 2018

Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Tester, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Warner, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Brown, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Mr. Coons, Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Duckworth, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Gillibrand, Ms. Harris, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Jones, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Markey, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Peters, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Udall, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Booker, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations

A BILL

Making continuing appropriations for military pay and death benefits in the event of a Government shutdown.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Pay Our Military Act of 2018.

Continuing appropriations for pay and death benefits for members of the Armed Forces

(a)

In general

There are hereby appropriated for fiscal year 2018, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for fiscal year 2018 are not in effect—

(1)

such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces (as defined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code), including reserve components thereof, who perform active service, including drill, during such period;

(2)

such sums as are necessary for the payment of death benefits authorized by subchapter II of chapter 75 of title 10, United States Code, for individuals who die during such period;

(3)

such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to the civilian personnel of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) whom the Secretary concerned determines are providing support to members of the Armed Forces described in paragraph (1) and in connection with the payment of benefits described in paragraph (2); and

(4)

such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) whom the Secretary concerned determines are providing support to members of the Armed Forces described in paragraph (1) and in connection with the payment of benefits described in paragraph (2).

(b)

Secretary concerned defined

In this section, the term Secretary concerned means—

(1)

the Secretary of Defense with respect to matters concerning the Department of Defense; and

(2)

the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to matters concerning the Coast Guard.

Termination

Appropriations and funds made available and authority granted pursuant to this Act shall be available until whichever of the following first occurs: (1) the enactment into law of an appropriation (including a continuing appropriation) for any purpose for which amounts are made available in section 2; (2) the enactment into law of the applicable regular or continuing appropriations resolution or other Act without any appropriation for such purpose; or (3) September 30, 2018.