NATIONAL NEWS

AP reader question: How does the shutdown affect National Guard troops?

Oct 4, 2025, 12:45 PM

Members of the Ohio National Guard patrol the National Mall, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Washington....

Members of the Ohio National Guard patrol the National Mall, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Here’s a question about the shutdown submitted by an Associated Press reader, Christian P.:

How does the shutdown affect National Guard troops?

National Guard troops will not be paid on time during the shutdown, just like the thousands of other employees deemed “essential.”

All active-duty military members, including those in the deployed Guard, must remain on duty, but they will not receive pay until funding is restored.

In years past, Congress has passed a stopgap measure preventing this pause in military pay. Days before government funding lapsed in 2013, lawmakers approved the Pay Our Military Act, which kept military paychecks going during the shutdown.

Before this shutdown happened, a similar bill was introduced, but it was not voted on before lawmakers adjourned and the shutdown went into effect.

We’ll be showcasing a different reader question about the shutdown each day for the coming several days.

___

Do you have a question for AP about the government shutdown? You can submit it here.

National News

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One, at President Donald J. ...

Associated Press

Trump says he was just kidding about making UFC’s Dana White his press secretary

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he was only kidding about making UFC boss Dana White his next White House press secretary after announcing on social media he had offered his close friend the job. After his party’s deep losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections, Trump shook up his administration on […]

1 hour ago

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before departing for France from H...

Associated Press

Rubio says Trump’s war against Iran not ‘necessarily popular’ but needed to stop a nuclear threat

HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran even if it was not “necessarily popular” to safeguard the world from the country’s nuclear ambitions. He would not comment directly about the Republican wipeout in Tuesday’s elections, which delivered a resounding […]

1 hour ago

FILE - U.S. Department of Homeland Security sign, is seen during a news conference at ICE Headquart...

Associated Press

Deportation flight of Iranians from US scuttled at last minute, attorney says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. deportation flight of Iranian nationals bound for Iran by way of Pakistan was abruptly canceled Sunday morning, according to an attorney who spoke to some of the detainees slated for repatriation. At least eight Iranians were loaded onto a plane Sunday morning in Mesa, Arizona, for a deportation flight […]

2 hours ago

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference in Washington, Wednesd...

Associated Press

Trump and his Justice Department stand defiant as Democrats ready an investigative blitz

President Donald Trump and his Department of Justice are taking a combative stance toward Democrats after their election victories in the midterms, signaling intense conflict to come as lawmakers prepare aggressive investigations into the executive branch next year. Trump set the tone, declaring on social media that investigative requests already made by Democrats are “extortion […]

6 hours ago

This image released by GKIDS shows a scene from "Godzilla Minus Zero." (GKIDS via AP)Credit: GKIDS ...

Associated Press

‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ stomps to a record-setting $31.6 debut, clobbering ‘The Cat in the Hat’

NEW YORK (AP) — “Godzilla Minus Zero” stomped into movie theaters with a chart-topping $31.6 million over the weekend, scoring a record debut for a foreign-language film at the North American box office. Takashi Yamazaki‘s sequel to 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One” easily thrashed Warner Bros.’ animated “The Cat in the Hat” movie. That film, […]

7 hours ago

This aerial photo provided by Sky Yazzie shows Upper Lake Mary in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Tuesday, Nov...

Associated Press

Floods bring rare relief to US Southwest reservoirs as Lake Powell rises 20 feet

PHOENIX (AP) — Recent flooding across the U.S. Southwest is providing rare relief to thirsty reservoirs that had fallen to record lows amid a yearslong megadrought. Storms in late October and early November sent torrents of water through normally small or dry creeks that overflowed their banks and flooded local communities. Hundreds of people were […]

11 hours ago

AP reader question: How does the shutdown affect National Guard troops?