President Donald Trump said Saturday that his administration will make sure military personnel get paid Wednesday when their checks are due, despite the partial government shutdown.
The Oct. 15 pay date for about 2.1 million troops had become one of the biggest near-term inflection points in the shutdown standoff, which has gone on for 11 days so far. In prior funding lapses that dragged on for weeks, military pay wasn’t an issue because the troops were paid through separate spending bills.
But with no signs of movement toward a bipartisan deal to reopen the government and Republicans uninterested in stand-alone legislation to pay troops, Trump said he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds” to ensure the troops are paid on Wednesday.
“We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown.”
The money will come out of regular Pentagon research and development appropriations that are available for two fiscal years, a White House budget office spokesperson said, rather than from the GOP budget reconciliation package as many expected.
The March stopgap funding law for fiscal 2025 provided about $141 billion for Pentagon research and development accounts, along with “general transfer authority” to shift up to $8 billion to other purposes if needed. A Pentagon official said the department had identified $8 billion in unobligated research and development funds that will be used to make the mid-month payments to servicemembers.
There was no immediate word about the fate of paychecks for Coast Guard personnel, a branch of the military that’s housed within the Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard didn’t get paid during the 2018-2019 shutdown that lasted more than a month.
Trump’s directive is a legally untested use of such accounting moves during a shutdown. It seems unlikely any critics would file a lawsuit to block payments to the troops, and private parties generally can’t sue for violations of the Antideficiency Act, which bars spending in excess of available appropriations.
However, the Antideficiency Act provides the Government Accountability Office authority to identify and report violations of the statute, which can result in agency officials being suspended or removed from office. In extreme and unprecedented circumstances, violations can lead to fines of up to $5,000 and up to two years in prison.
House Appropriations ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro, anticipating that the White House would try such a maneuver, told reporters on a call Friday that it would likely be illegal.
“They are violating the law left and right,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “There’s no inherent power that the president has, and certainly no inherent power that [Office of Management and Budget Director] Russ Vought has to move money around that’s been appropriated by … House, Senate, Democrats and Republicans, that’s the law of the land.”
The federal agency in question would determine the appropriate administrative penalty, however, or in the case of any potential criminal violations, the Trump Justice Department. And this administration has argued in other questions of spending authority that the GAO, as an arm of Congress, cannot bind the executive branch.
Mass layoffs
Trump’s announcement comes after his administration implemented over 4,100 layoffs at various nondefense agencies on Friday, with likely more in the offing. Federal employees have sued to block the reductions-in-force, or RIFs, though the administration claims longstanding authority to implement them, including due to a “shortage of funds” stemming from the shutdown.
Earlier Saturday, Senate Democratic leaders called Vought “unfit to serve” and urged him to resign.
“Vought’s weaponization of the federal government and disregard for the rule of law threatens the very checks and balances that make our system of government work,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York, Senate Budget ranking member Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray of Washington and Senate Homeland Security ranking member Gary Peters of Michigan said.
The next military pay date after Wednesday is Oct. 31, and it’s unclear where the administration would find additional money if necessary. Federal workers, meanwhile, would miss their first full paychecks the week before that, as soon as Oct. 24 for many.
The Senate will be in session Tuesday to take another shot at voting on the House-passed stopgap funding bill, which would reopen the government and keep funds flowing through Nov. 21.
But there’s still no sign of a deal to address Democrats’ concerns over health care tax credits that are set to shrink and lead to sharply higher premiums for insurance bought on government exchanges.
The House remains out except for pro forma sessions, as it has been since passing the continuing resolution on Sept. 19. House Democratic leaders and a smattering of others have remained in Washington, however, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is urging the full caucus to return next week to show a contrast with House Republicans, who are largely absent other than their leadership.
“Instead of voting on legislation to reopen the government, pay our troops and address the Republican healthcare crisis, they remain on vacation,” Jeffries wrote to colleagues Saturday. “That is why it is critically important for House Democrats to once again return to Washington to stand up for the healthcare of everyday Americans, pay our active duty troops and support hardworking federal civil servants.”
The full Democratic Caucus plans to meet in-person at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jeffries wrote, with another caucus meeting Wednesday along with a “full slate of work-related activities,” including a rally on the Capitol steps, a health care hearing and a virtual town hall meeting.
The post Trump directs Pentagon to shift funds to make payroll for troops appeared first on Roll Call.
