{"id":17765,"date":"2018-09-14T18:50:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T18:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/14\/military-death-benefits-wont-be-stopped-by-government-shutdowns-anymore\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:07:02","slug":"military-death-benefits-wont-be-stopped-by-government-shutdowns-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2018\/09\/14\/military-death-benefits-wont-be-stopped-by-government-shutdowns-anymore\/","title":{"rendered":"Military death benefits won\u2019t be stopped by government shutdowns anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/06\/06\/why-wait-advocates-push-fix-for-threat-to-military-death-payouts\/\" target=_blank>Military death gratuities<\/a> will be exempted from future government shutdowns under a provision included in the defense appropriations deal announced this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move means a permanent fix for an infrequent but devastating problem facing grieving military families caught up in national political budget fights. In each of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/03\/16\/another-government-shutdown-is-possible-what-s-at-stake-for-the-military\/\" target=_blank>the last two partial government shutdowns<\/a>, widows of troops killed on duty were forced to wait several days for the military\u2019s automatic financial assistance because federal rules prohibited the payouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Language in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/09\/14\/f-35-inventory-soars-in-new-pentagon-spending-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\">the defense minibus bill<\/a>, expected to be passed by the House and Senate before the end of the month, will now create an exemption for those families. Even if other military services and benefits are shuttered, the death gratuity payments will still be processed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis really is the very least we can do for families who have made the ultimate sacrifice,\u201d said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who sponsored legislation making the change. \u201cNever again will a government shutdown cause a grieving military family to be denied a death gratuity payment during their time of mourning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/09\/13\/pentagon-set-to-win-first-on-time-budget-since-2008\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18129517132532.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon set to win first on-time budget since 2008<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Congress is poised to pass the defense budget on time for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers have been reluctant in recent years to exempt many government services from the effects of a partial federal shutdown out of fear the moves could discourage compromise on reaching budget deals and avoiding the shutdowns altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the death gratuity issue has been a particularly offensive example for many members of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the three-day government shutdown in January (which came as Republicans and Democrats fought over funding and immigration issues) the families of two U.S. soldiers killed in a helicopter crash had to wait several extra days for the emergency funding to arrive because Pentagon officials weren\u2019t allowed to process the checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2013, during the 17-day shutdown over government spending issues, lawmakers had to pass emergency legislation to allow the checks to be processed after several families of troops killed overseas complained the money was not being delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The death gratuity, a $100,000 tax-free payout to troops who die on active-duty and certain reserve statuses, is designed to \u201cprovide immediate cash payment to assist survivors \u2026 to meet their financial needs during the period immediately following a member&#8217;s death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Keith Humphrey, an advocate whose son-in-law was killed in 2009 while serving in the Marine Corps, said even a delay of a few days in receiving that money can create financial and emotional problems for those military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI keep playing back in my memory the day my son-in-law died and the relief I felt when our Marine Corps (casualty officer) told me the death gratuity was in place,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine those families in 2013 and this year that were not protected.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Humphrey, a Navy veteran, said the news of the rule change\u2019s inclusion in the appropriation bill has left him \u201cso relieved and filled with emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spending measure \u2014 which includes $674 billion in defense appropriations along with the full fiscal 2019 budget for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education \u2014 must be approved by both chambers and signed by the president before Oct. 1 in order to avoid a partial government shutdown this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But leaders from both parties have already backed the deal, viewing it as a political win to avoid more financial controversy ahead of the mid-term elections in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Right now, there are brave men and women serving on the front lines around the world. They and their families deserve to know their pay and \u2013 if necessary \u2013 military death benefits are secured during the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/TrumpShutdown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TrumpShutdown<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gFdpLpwz3R\">pic.twitter.com\/gFdpLpwz3R<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenDuckworth\/status\/955265917096747014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Military families mourning the loss of a loved one have been caught up in previous political fights over government spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,92,93,12,25,15,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-17765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pay-benefits","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FSVUNXCSHBCZFMNH5AD2N56MQM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2018\/09\/14\/military-death-benefits-wont-be-stopped-by-government-shutdowns-anymore\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Military death benefits won\u2019t be stopped by government shutdowns anymore - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Military families mourning the loss of a loved one have been caught up in previous political fights over government spending.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Military death benefits won\u2019t be stopped by government shutdowns anymore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Military families mourning the loss of a loved one have been caught up in previous political fights over government spending.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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