WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday he has directed the Defense Department to use “all available resources” to ensure U.S. troops are paid Wednesday despite the government shutdown. This is a short-term solution that does not apply to hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal employees.
Trump said in a social media post that he was acting because “our brave troops will miss the paychecks that are rightfully theirs on October 15th.”
The Republican president’s order removes one of the pressure points that could have forced Congress to act and likely ensures that the shutdown – now in its 11th day and counting – extends into a third week and possibly beyond. However, there appear to be no similar measures for federal employees who are also working without pay, while thousands are now being laid off as government operations are crippled. The White House Budget Office began the layoffs on Friday.
Trump blamed Democrats and said he was using his authority as commander in chief to direct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available resources to pay our troops on October 15th.” The Republican president added: “We have allocated funds for this and Secretary Hegseth will use these to pay our troops.”
U.S. soldiers were at risk of not receiving their next paycheck Wednesday after the government shut down on Oct. 1, the start of the federal budget cycle. There are about 1.3 million active-duty military personnel in the U.S., and the prospect of troop withdrawals without pay was a central theme as lawmakers on Capitol Hill debated the negative impact of the shutdown.
Trump did not say where he gets the money from.
One possible source would be the billions of dollars pumped into the Defense Department as part of Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts bill, which he signed in July. The Congressional Budget Office said such a move is possible.
A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget said Pentagon research and development funds would be used to pay the salaries.
Federal workers typically receive back pay after a shutdown ends, as required by a law Trump signed during his first term in office. He recently brought up the idea of not compensating for lost salaries.
It was unclear whether the president’s order applied to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is a branch of the U.S. armed forces but is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime.
The country’s third shutdown in 12 years has again heightened concerns among service members and their families as those in uniform work without pay. Although they would receive back pay after the standoff ends, many military families live paycheck to paycheck.
During previous shutdowns, Congress passed legislation to ensure troops continued to earn their pay, but lawmakers’ discussion of a similar move appeared to have fizzled out.
Asked earlier this week whether he would support a bill to pay troops, Trump said: “That’s probably going to happen.”
“We’ll take care of it,” he said Wednesday. “Our military will always be taken care of.”
The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Democrats rejected a short-term funding measure and demanded that the bill include an expansion of federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The end of these subsidies at the end of the year will result in monthly cost increases for millions of people.
Trump and Republican leaders have said they are open to negotiating health subsidies but insist the government must reopen first.
Both sides appear to be stuck in their positions, making it unclear when and how the shutdown will end.
