The Pentagon is promising to look for “creative solutions,” to allow U.S. service members overseas to view Sunday’s NFL playoff games, in the wake of angry protests following an order to American Forces Network to cease broadcasting until government funding is restored.

The network, which provides news, entertainment, sports, and command information to U.S. service members around the world, went dark shortly after midnight, after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a continuing resolution to fund the government until next month.

The blackout drew howls of protest on AFN’s Facebook page, where comments were split: some blaming the Democrats, others Republicans for service cutoff, which will force troops and their familes to find some other way to watch the NFC and AFC championship games.

“No Conference Championship games this weekend... Democrats never again will you get my vote,” wrote one commenter.

Another wrote “You do [k]how republikklans [sic] control the house, Senate and the White House. Trump has shown his inability to govern.”

Many of the upset commenters noted AFN did not go off the air during the previous shutdown in 2013.

“This did NOT happen the last time the government shut down. AFN was on the air. WHY THIS TIME?” one commenter asked.

In response to a query from the Washington Examiner, Dana White, chief Pentagon spokesperson said: “Under a government shutdown, sports broadcasts are not considered an essential activity. We are exploring creative solutions to continue to provide our troops with some of the comforts of home.”

A tweet from the NFL, said league is working “working on alternatives” for service members in the event American Forces Network is not back in service before the start of Subday’s championship games.

Meanwhile, “Military members can watch tomorrow’s NFL games at USO Centers overseas through NFL Game Pass for free,” tweeted Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL.

Several disgruntled military members complained privately to the Washington Examiner that there was no reason to end the service because the broadcast operations are largely run by uniformed military personnel, who are still at work during the shutdown.

Some suspected the Pentagon order to cut the service might have been a political decision to put more pressure on the Democrats to cave, but showing the shutdown was hurting troops.

Friday White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Friday accused the Obama administration of using that tactic in 2013 by “weaponizing” the shutdown to make it worse than it should have been.

“They could have made the shutdown in 2013 much less impactful, but they chose to make it worse. The only conclusion I can draw is they did so for political purposes,” Mulvaney said at a White House briefing.

“We're going to manage the shutdown differently. We are not going to weaponize it. We're not going to try and hurt people, especially people having to work for this federal government," he said.

The Pentagon said the real solution is for Congress to resolve its partisan divide, and fully fund the Department of Defense.

“We hope Congress will come to a resolution, support our troops and pass a budget soon,” White said.

In his memo to Defense Department personnel ahead of the shutdown, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wrote: “You have my personal commitment that the Department's leadership will do our best to mitigate the impacts of the disruptions and any financial burdens to you and your families.”