Junior US troops are paid worse than McDonald's workers, says House GOP military veteran

The GOP lawmaker who spearheaded a House effort to pass the largest military pay raise in history is tearing into the Biden administration for opposing it.

Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired Navy pilot, pushed for a 19.5% pay raise to be included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual bill laying out policies for the U.S. military and national security.

It’s accompanied by a 4.5% pay raise for service members across the board.

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Rep. Mike Garcia is criticizing the Biden administration for opposing a 19.5% pay increase for junior troops. (Getty Images)

"It's wildly offensive. It's like a police chief basically saying he doesn't want to pay his cops that work for the city more than $12 an hour, which is what a starting salary [for a junior recruit is]," Garcia told Fox News Digital. "In my state, minimum wage is 20, $22 for a McDonald's worker."

"We're not asking for $80 to $100 an hour, we're asking for $12 to $15 an hour, just to get them off of food stamps."

Roughly one in eight military families with at least one child relies on food banks, according to a University of Georgia study from last year.

The NDAA passed the House on Friday morning in a 217-to-199 vote, authorizing roughly $895 billion in military spending. The Senate must now take it up or pass its own version, which will then lead to a bicameral conference to work out a compromise.

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U.S. Army soldiers train at al-Asad air base, located in Western Iraq.  (Source: U.S. Army )

But it’s not immediately clear whether it will include the 19.5% pay bump – the Biden administration released a statement earlier this month opposing parts of the House’s NDAA, including the raise.

"The Administration is strongly committed to taking care of our Servicemembers and their families, and appreciates the Committee’s concern for the needs of the most junior enlisted members, but strongly opposes making a significant, permanent change to the basic pay schedule before the completion of the Fourteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC)," the White House said in a statement. "If the President’s FY 2025 request is enacted, Servicemembers will have received a 15 percent basic pay increase in just three years. The House proposed changes would lead to pay compression in some parts of the enlisted military basic pay table."

But Garcia argued that junior troops in particular have been underpaid for years, recalling soldiers struggling during his days in the Navy.

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Garcia recalled troops in his squadron on the USS Nimitz who qualified for food stamps. (Getty Images)

"I was in charge of about 30 sailors in my division – in my squadron. And literally 12 of them qualified for food stamps," Garcia said. "We were having to help kids file for bankruptcy."

He continued, "It's no coincidence when you go to a military installation … the highest concentration of payday loans are there, pawnshops are there, because these kids are just trying to figure out like literally how to get from one paycheck … it’s only gotten worse since then."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment for purposes of this story but did not hear back by press time. 

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.