It has happened! The government shut down at midnight, Tuesday, October 1. Well, at least ‘partially’ shutdown. Could this trigger a Military Shutdown?
But does that mean our military boys and girls can take an immediate vacation while our congress people duke it out among themselves?
Absolutely not! Our 1.4 million active military personnel will continue to get paid no matter how long this government shut down lingers. This is because there is already a bill that was passed by the House and Senate to guarantee our military personnel remains active and paid no matter how longs the government is ?closed for business?. Fortunately, the President signed this into law Monday night.
However, not so great news for a few of our military veterans. First the good news is that the Veterans Hospitals will remain open. Business as usual. Unfortunately, the Veterans Benefits Administration will be unable to process college and rehabilitation benefits. Not only that, but this military shutdown the Board of Veteran Appeals will be unable to hold hearings.
Worst of all, if the government continues the shutdown by not funding the Department of Veteran Affairs for several weeks, then as many as 3.6 million veterans may not be able to receive their disability claims and pension payments. But most experts agree that this happening is very unlikely.
A whopping 14 percent of the 231,000 Homeland Security employees will also go home. But the Border Patrol will continue as normal.
Lastly, the Department of Defense will send home almost 50% of their 800,000 ?civilian? employees on Tuesday who are considered ‘non essential’.
Whew! We haven’t even mentioned the new health care regulations… it may be a long day for all!
