Obama, House Order Fix for Fallen Troops' Families

It looks like one unfortunate side effect of the showdown will be quickly fixed: The House voted unanimously today to restore the $100,000 death benefit paid to soldiers' families, reports the Hill. The Senate may not need to follow suit, however, because the White House has ordered an administrative solution, reports CNN. Under a deal with the Pentagon, the private Fisher House foundation will provide the benefit to families, then get reimbursed by the Defense Department once the shutdown ends.

The lapse emerged when the families of five troops who were killed in Afghanistan over the weekend learned they wouldn't be receiving the death benefit because of the shutdown. "My husband died for his country, and now his family is left to worry," the widow of Joseph Peters, one of the soldiers killed by an IED on Sunday, told NBC News earlier. (More US military stories.)