Chairman: Lawmakers ‘ready to go’ on shutdown troop pay

In the event of a government shutdown, lawmakers are “ready to go” on an emergency bill to pay U.S. service members, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said Friday.

“We’re ready to go with that if it gets to that point,” Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said at a press conference. “I hope it doesn’t get to that point. I don’t really think it will, but we’re trying to be ready for contingencies.”

{mosads}The government will shut down on Oct. 1 if Congress does not approve a new funding bill. But the chances of a shutdown shrunk on Friday after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced his resignation at the end of October. 

With nothing to lose, Boehner is expected to move a short-term funding bill through the House even if it includes funding for Planned Parenthood. A number of House conservatives would likely vote against that bill, but it is expected to be approved by the House. 

The last time there was a shutdown in 2013, lawmakers passed legislation that protected military pay.

Defense officials have been preparing for the possibility of a shutdown, and on Friday released a memo that said troops would continue to report to duty but not get paid until Congress approves funding.

Despite planning for a shutdown, Thornberry said he thinks the plan Boehner laid out to avoid one will succeed.

To appease conservatives, GOP leaders announced they would separately use a fast-track process known as reconciliation to defund Planned Parenthood. While President Obama would be expected to veto the measure, it would at least get to the White House.

“I think that leadership has laid out a good plan forward where the Planned Parenthood issue can get to the president’s desk – I don’t know of another way it gets to the president’s desk – and at the same time make sure the men and women who serve our country in the military get paid and that there’s no lapse in that,” Thornberry said. “And obviously that’s a key concern.”