The authors of legislation that would ensure servicemembers get paid even if the debt limit isn't raised are steaming mad. Texas Republicans Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Louie Gohmert are blaming congressional leaders from both political parties for putting the brakes on their bills, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Hutchinson and Gohmert told reporters at a news conference today that House Speaker John Boehner and the Senate Democratic leadership won't put their bills up for a vote. Goehmert said the military is being used as pawns in the political debt ceiling game, and he wants it to stop:
““We need to make sure the military — people in harm’s way that are dodging bullets – never have to have it cross their minds that they won’t get a paycheck."
Hutchinson's bill would, according to Politico, require the government to pay military salaries first with whatever money's leftover in the Treasury, should we reach the debt limit. Gohmert's proposed law is similar, guaranteeing servicemembers get paid even if the debt ceiling is reached.
Here's video of Hutchinson and Gohmert's news conference today:
