Military Spouse Caller On C-SPAN Begs Mike Johnson To Pay Troops Amid Shutdown

WASHINGTON ― A military spouse caller on C-SPAN pleaded with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday to pass a bill to ensure U.S. troops keep getting paid as the government shutdown drags on, condemning his “audacity” for saying he doesn’t support doing it.

“As a Republican, I’m very disappointed in my party and I’m very disappointed in you,” a Virginia woman named Samantha fumed at Johnson, who fielded live calls on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. “Because you do have the power to call the House back. You did that ― or you refused to do that just for a show.”

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Her comments come a day after Johnson said he doesn’t support holding a standalone vote on military pay, because doing so would be “dithering on show votes” instead of focusing on ending the government shutdown. Curiously, the House speaker flip-flopped on this issue within the span of a day, as on Tuesday, he said he was “certainly open” to passing a bill to ensure troops don’t miss a paycheck.

During her call, Samantha noted her voice was “very shaky” because she is so upset about the stressful situation her family is in. She said she has “two medically fragile children” and that her husband has PTSD after two tours in Afghanistan. She explained that if the shutdown isn’t resolved by Oct. 15, troops will miss their first paychecks and her kids can’t get the medication they need “to live,” as she is living paycheck to paycheck.

“I’m begging you to pass this legislation. My kids could die. We don’t have the credit because of the medical bills that I have to pay regularly. You could stop this, you could be the one that could say, ‘Military is getting paid,’” she told Johnson.

“The audacity of someone who makes six figures a year to do this to military families is insane,” Samantha added, before being cut off by the show host.

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Johnson, who sat solemnly through her comments, said he was sorry about her situation but that he still opposes passing a bill to protect military pay.

Lawmakers already took that vote, he said, when the House voted last month to pass the GOP’s bill to fund the government through Nov. 21. That bill, which was put together with no Democratic input and was passed almost entirely along party lines, failed to pass in the Senate, where Democrats are refusing to support any government-funding bill that doesn’t also extend millions of people’s health care subsidies set to expire later this year.

For some reason, Johnson claimed that even if the House did pass a bill to ensure troops keep getting paid, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wouldn’t let it pass.

“If we did another ― a vote on the floor to pay troops, it’s not a law-making exercise,” Johnson said. “Because Chuck Schumer is gonna hold that up in the Senate.”

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It’s not clear why Schumer or Senate Democrats would oppose doing this, as it doesn’t conflict with their efforts to tie health care protections to a government-funding bill. A Senate Democratic leadership aide seemed confused by Johnson’s claim, saying: “We have no idea what Speaker Johnson is talking about.”

At a press conference later Thursday, Johnson brought up Samantha’s comments on C-SPAN and said he shared her anger. But he conflated her anger at him for not holding a vote on military pay with his stated anger about the ongoing shutdown.

“One of the callers called in, she was so upset, she was a young military mother and she has two special needs children. She told her story in tears,” Johnson told reporters. “She’s so angry, and so am I that their services are being delayed.”

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has said that he’s all for voting to protect military pay amid the shutdown.

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“I believe that we should pay our men and women in uniform,” Jeffries said at a Wednesday press conference. “I support the effort [by] our members to make sure that that takes place.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who stood alongside Jeffries and who served in the Air Force, called it “insane” not to pay the troops during the shutdown.

“Some are in high-risk missions,” Lieu said. “You want them thinking about whether they can get paid?”

Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.

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