Mattis pledged to do his best to mitigate disruptions and financial impact on military families. made an effort shortly after midnight to get the troops’ salaries and death benefits paid through the shutdown. Early this morning, @clairecmc tried to pass a bill to guarantee military pay and death benefits in the #TrumpShutdown. As McCaskill noted, Congress has historically given the military back pay when a shutdown occurs or passed a bill that pays them during a work stoppage. “We hope Congress has our country’s best interest in mind,” said Col. Mark Cheadle, an AFRICOM spokesman, when asked about the shutdown.

Source: Washington Post January 20, 2018 19:22 UTC