Story highlights If the government shuts down the military would still report for duty

Personnel will be paid for the first pay period after the shutdown ends

(CNN) Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned Friday that a government shutdown will have "a terrible" impact on the US military, just hours before a deadline for the Senate to pass a bill to keep the government open. However, he made clear that the military would continue to function and perform critical missions despite a shutdown.

"It's got a terrible impact," Mattis told an audience at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies at an event to unveil the administration's new National Defense Strategy.

But Mattis gave no indication that the military's capacity to protect the American people will be compromised: "We will continue what we are doing but the value of the military is grossly enhanced by the sense that the American model of government, of the people, by the people, for the people, can function and carry out its governmental responsibilities."

If the government shuts down, the military is considered essential and would still report for duty, US officials have said.

Military personnel must report to work and will be paid for the first pay period after the shutdown ends. In the 2013 shutdown, Congress passed a bill that paid military personnel through the shutdown.

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