Government Re-Opens - Your Next Steps

The US Government reopened and ended its longest ever lapse of appropriations or shutdown on November 13th, after Congress was able to reach a compromise agreement.

So....now what?

Luckily, military members were able to be paid throughout the shutdown, and it appears that the mid-month or November 15th paychecks will be distributed as usual - with several SoFi banking members already reporting their regular early deposit hitting their accounts two days early.

The absolute first thing you should do as a military member is to check your military Leave and Earnings Statement (LES). Compare ones prior to the shutdown to the ones you receive during it, and immediately after. Many members reported pay discrepancies or issues and while they received a paycheck, reported the amounts or allowances were incorrect. Seek out your chain of command, finance office, or DFAS directly to resolve any issues.

Next, talk with your creditors if you ended up receiving any financial assistance such as deferred payments or interest. Now that paychecks are flowing again for everyone, companies that may have deferred your payments may now be seeking that payment in full - so double check there is enough in your account.

Lastly, make sure to welcome back your GS counterparts. Many of them worked - or didn't - without pay throughout this shutdown. That doesn't cost you anything - but they are valued members of our team!