US President Barack Obama had directed government lawyers to find an immediate solution for the halted issuance of aid to the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty, said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday. This was after military death benefits had been stalled following the US partial shutdown.
Obama had signed a law just before the US deadlock allowing Pentagon to pay the military. According to lawyers, the bill did not permit the government to pay USD100000 tax free payments to those families of fallen troops during the government shutdown, reported Reuters.
The US partial shutdown had affected at least five families of soldiers killed last weekend in Afghanistan, according to US Senator John McCain. The Republican lawmaker said last Tuesday that Congress' members should be embarrassed and ashamed for the lapse, according to a report from Reuters.
The US President was very disturbed regarding the lapse and directed lawyers at the Defense Department and the White House budget office to find an immediate solution to resume payments, Carney told reporters.
The US shutdown had caused a USD160 million losses per workday. The US deadlock had also losses of USD1.6 billion in economic output, according IHS Inc.
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