By MOAA Staff

Legislation ending the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history passed the House 222-209 on Nov. 12 after clearing the Senate two days earlier, with a continuing resolution set to keep the government open through Jan. 30. The president signed it into law late in the evening.

It’s the first step in rebuilding a broken trust between lawmakers and the uniformed services and veteran communities. But it's far from the last.

Here are three moves Congress should make to further that process.

Pass a Full Budget for FY 2026 … and Beyond

This Congress’ inability to pass a budget before the end of the fiscal year continues a pattern that’s lasted decades. Lawmakers haven’t passed a full slate of appropriations legislation on time since FY 1997, and the resulting continuing resolutions have lasted anywhere from a few days to a full year.

The latest continuance buys lawmakers a few weeks to get their house (and Senate) in order. Further extensions aren’t the answer: Full funding for what’s left of the fiscal year will give servicemembers, veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors the certainty they need after months of doubt. The current shutdown-ending agreement moves the ball a bit forward on that process, including full-year funding bills for military construction and the VA; the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; and the legislative branch itself.

[RELATED: National Family Caregivers Month Offers Time to Reflect, Support, and Act]

While MOAA and fellow advocacy groups have supported creative solutions and legislative workarounds to provide for our national defense and the servicemembers who make it possible, the true fix remains the simplest: Lawmakers should execute their own appropriations schedule rather than engage in brinkmanship throughout September (or longer).

Pass Protections for Those in Uniform

Passing a timely budget should be a top priority for all legislators, but seeing such a trend reversed in short order may be unlikely. That’s why it’s important for lawmakers to ensure servicemembers and their families are protected from future funding-lapse fallouts – not through emergency bills introduced as the budget clock ticks down, but through bipartisan legislation passed outside the frenetic appropriations cycle.

As servicemembers have shown in recent weeks, and during past funding lapses, their duties don’t stop even when their paychecks do. We know they will continue to serve, so they should know we will continue to pay them what they’ve earned through service and sacrifice.

[RELATED: Downward Trend Continues for Future Military Pay Raises]

This legislation should include all in uniform, not just the armed services – members of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps missed checks while serving shoulder to shoulder with armed services personnel, and NOAA Commissioned Corps members missed checks while flying into hurricanes. They should not be neglected by lawmakers.

Change USPHS/NOAA Retirement Funding

Military and federal-service retirees saw their paychecks continue throughout the shutdown. Retired USPHS and NOAA Commissioned Corps members and survivors did not, even though they served honorably.

USPHS and NOAA Corps retirees receive their checks from the Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center (PPC). During the recent shutdown, the PPC noted that these retirees would still receive payslips, which are “automatically generated as part of the overall payroll process,” but wouldn’t get paid. Adding insult to injury, they also were instructed to coordinate with TRICARE and other insurance providers to make direct payments in lieu of allotments.

[RELATED: Retirement Resources From MOAA]

This isn’t a simple oversight – this is a threat to the financial well-being of these retired servicemembers, many of whom live on fixed incomes. After the 2018-19 shutdown threatened Coast Guard retirees in the same fashion, Congress took action: The FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) contained a provision moving that service’s retirement pay under the Military Retirement Fund, ensuring it would continue during a shutdown. A similar move would protect the pay of current and future USPHS and NOAA officer retirees in the event of a funding lapse.

MOAA will continue to urge lawmakers to move forward in all three of these areas throughout this extended budget cycle and into the new year. Doing so is the definition of “supporting the troops” – words that ring hollow under the threat of missed paychecks, cuts to programs and services, last-second changes to orders and PCS schedules, and other annual budget-fueled problems.

You can track MOAA’s progress on these fronts and other key legislative priority areas, and help our cause by sending messages to your legislators, by registering at our Legislative Action Center.