Little Support for 'Pay Troops First' Bill

Two weeks after a Texas congressman tried force a House vote on his bill mandating that servicemembers be paid first in the event of a government shutdown, only nine representatives have signed on.

The so-called discharge petition requires 218 signatures.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, filed the bill in March only to see it stuck in committee.  During a press conference on July 14 he announced he would use a House rule that allowed members to petition to get a bill onto the floor.  At that time he expressed confidence that he’d have the backing, claiming he had 190 co-sponsors.

"We need to make sure the military, people in harm's way that are dodging bullets, never have to have it cross their minds that their paychecks may not come in," Gohmert said at the time. He was joined there by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who had filed similar legislation in the Senate, where it has also languished in committee.

Pay for servicemembers – as well as checks for disabled veterans and retirees – is at risk if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling beyond the $14.3 trillion now allowed by law. The White House has said it cannot promise that these and other obligations, including Social Security, will be met if the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2.

Hutchison, speaking Tuesday on the Senate floor, urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, to allow her bill to come up for a vote.

"We have people in the military with boots on the ground by the thousands that are making under $20,000 a year,” she said. “Those are people who are living paycheck-to-paycheck.  They don't have the luxury of having a big savings account."

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While it’s not surprising that Reid is keeping Hutchison’s bill in committee, Gohmert’s House version has also failed to get his own GOP leadership’s support for letting House members vote on the bill.

Earlier this month Gohmert said that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was fully aware of his bill to pay troops first and his wish to have members vote on it.

Leaders on both sides do not want to remove military pay from the debate because they believe that having it at risk will make it easier for lawmakers to go along with a deal for which they otherwise would not vote.

A successful petition drive would have gotten his bill onto the floor even without Boehner’s consent, Gohmert said.

In addition to Gohmert, only a handful of lawmakers – all Republican – had signed the petition to date. The other representatives are Michael C. Burgess of Texas, Steve King of Iowa, Bill Posey of Fla., Sue Wilkins Myrick of North Carolina, André Carson and Mike Pence of Indiana, Trent Franks of Arizona, and Tim Scott of South Carolina.