NEW: A growing number of House Republicans are bristling at Speaker Johnson’s shutdown strategy
“There is absolutely no reason for the House to be out of session — it’s embarrassing,” Kevin Kiley (R-CA) said
Dozens are desperate for troop pay fixhttps://t.co/R7ChuVs1Ix
— Meredith Lee Hill (@meredithllee) October 9, 2025
A growing number of House Republicans, frustrated over a monthlong shutdown recess, are traveling back to Washington, D.C., despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) decision to keep his conference at home.
GOP leadership announced on Friday that the House would be gone another week as the shutdown begins to flirt with record territory. The decision is part of an effort to pressure Senate Democrats to accept the short-term funding bill that passed the lower chamber on Sept. 19.
Republicans say Trump will be unable to pay the troops Oct 31 unless the “Democrats” open up the government
President Donald Trump’s move to pay active-duty troops this week amid the shutdown is only a “temporary fix,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, warning that service members will miss their Oct. 31 paychecks if Democrats don’t reopen the government by then.
The Pentagon moved Saturday to tap unused research and development funding to cover the checks due Wednesday to 1.3 million active-duty troops, as well as tens of thousands of National Guard members and reservists on active-duty orders. But the next round of paychecks is not guaranteed, Johnson said at a news conference, as he accused Democrats of using members of the military as “hostages.”
While a swath of House and Senate Republicans have voiced private concerns to GOP leaders about the need for a separate troop pay bill, Republican leaders have remained opposed. They have argued that addressing troop pay would unleash a clamor from members and the public for other “rifle shot” bills that would reopen key parts of the federal government but ease pressure for an overall end to the shutdown, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the talks.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/15/congress/shutdown-troop-pay-oct-31-00608851