EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Stephanie Bice confirms that Oklahoma troops made payroll amidst Schumer Shutdown

Rep. Stephanie Bice confirmed to the Washington Reporter that troops in Oklahoma received their most recent paychecks, Schumer Shutdown notwithstanding.

As the Schumer Shutdown drags on to its second month — with no obvious off ramp in sight — Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) confirmed to the Washington Reporter that at least for now, troops in and around her district are still getting paid.

Bice, who sits on the House’s Appropriations Committee and on its Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said that Friday’s pay period was notable for how uneventful it was for troops in Oklahoma, which is home to five active military installations: Tinker Air Force Base, Fort Sill, Vance Air Force Base, Altus Air Force Base, and the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.

The Oklahoma lawmaker previously laid out to the Reporter in multiple interviews how the Schumer Shutdown has devastated communities and states like hers.

While troops in Oklahoma, at a minimum, made payroll at the end of last month, funds are poised to run out for troops across America. Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire, donated over $100 million to pay for soldiers’ salaries, but the cost needed will quickly surpass anything that he could continue supplying.

During one of her recent Reporter interviews, Bice laid out what she described as the “off ramp” for Democrats to take.

“The off ramp is voting for the continuing resolution we already passed,” she previously said. “The House passed a continuing resolution on September 19th, it had no partisan riders, no extraneous policy riders on there. It was literally the same bill that Chuck Schumer voted on in March of this year — exactly the same — and that he had voted on several times prior…This is really a political exercise. This has nothing to do with policy initiative. The Democrats want to make it about policy, but it’s not.”