Military and essential civilians would be paid after shutdown

If the government shuts down Friday night, military personnel and civilian personnel deemed essential will continue to work, but the Defense Department will not have the funds to pay them until after the shutdown ends, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III said in a message sent to the Pentagon's workforce on Thursday afternoon. Military personnel are not subject to furlough and will report for duty as normal during any shutdown, along with essential civilian personnel. "If there is a government shutdown beginning on Saturday, April 9, all DoD personnel should still report to work on their next scheduled duty day, beginning at their normal duty hours to receive additional instructions," he said. Lynn said civilian employees will be briefed on Friday as to whether their work and responsibilities fall into "excepted or nonexcepted status." He said "Congress would have to provide authority in order for the department to retroactively pay nonexcepted employees for the furloughed period." Nonessential personnel will not be allowed to volunteer to work or telework, Lynn said. Military retirees are not paid from annually appropriated funds, so their benefits should continue without interruption, he added. Operations and activities essential to safety, protection of human life and protection of national security are "excepted from any shutdown," Lynn said. Defense will continue to conduct activities in support of national security, including operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Japan; Libya-related support operations; and other activities essential to the security of the country, he said. The department also must continue to provide for the safety of human life and protection of property.

Hospitals and clinics operated by the Military Health System would continue to provide inpatient and essential outpatient and emergency dental care during a shutdown, Lynn said. Other Defense operations excepted from the shutdown include financial management activities necessary to ensure the control and accountability of funds and legal activities to support ongoing litigation and legal assistance for deployed personnel. Lynn said operations such as mess halls and child care, which run on nonappropriated funds, would continue to operate during a shutdown. Contractors performing work on contracts funded before a shutdown, whether or not they support excepted activities, may continue working and would be paid out of the obligated funds, subject to further direction from the contracting officer, Lynn said. New contracts, or increases in funding of existing contracts, needed to support excepted activities may be entered into during the period of a shutdown, but payments under such contracts cannot be made until Congress provides additional funding. Contract personnel should report to work on Monday, April 11, to be briefed on their status, the official said. Defense plans an orderly shutdown, and Lynn said he expects to issue more-detailed guidance regarding specific department activities considered excepted or nonexcepted. Lynn said he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates "understand that the military departments and defense agencies and individual commanders must tailor this guidance to many different situations around the world. . . . [S]hould there be a government shutdown, DoD personnel will be informed through their chain of command about how a shutdown may affect them personally."