H.R. 2017: Pay Our Military Act

HR2017, the Pay Our Military Act, is narrowly aimed at one problem: making sure pay and allowances continue during any period in fiscal year 2025 when interim or full-year appropriations are not in effect. The bill draws money from the Treasury from funds "not otherwise appropriated" and provides "such sums as are necessary," which means it does not set a fixed dollar cap in the text.

The core beneficiaries are members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, when they are performing active service or inactive-duty training. The bill also reaches beyond uniformed personnel to include civilian employees of the Department of Defense and, for the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Department of the Navy, civilian employees of the Department of Homeland Security. But those civilians qualify only if the "Secretary concerned" determines they are providing support to the covered Armed Forces members.

The same support test applies to contractors. Contractors of the Department of Defense, and contractors of the Department of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Department of the Navy, can be paid under this authority if the relevant secretary determines they are supporting covered service members. That means this is not an all-purpose government payroll bill; it is targeted to military pay and support functions tied to active service or inactive-duty training.

The authority is temporary and ends at the earliest of three points: when Congress enacts an appropriation, including a continuing appropriation, for any covered purpose; when Congress enacts a regular or continuing appropriations measure or another Act that does not include money for that purpose; or on January 1, 2026. The bill also relies on existing law for key definitions, pointing to section 101 of title 10 for "active service," "Armed Forces," and "inactive-duty training," and section 10101 of title 10 for "reserve components."