President Donald Trump said his “friend” donated $130 million to pay military service members’ salaries during the government shutdown — a move that has raised eyebrows from legal experts.
Speaking at a roundtable Thursday, the president revealed that his “friend” called him to say he wanted to contribute “if there's a shortfall.” The man then sent a check for $130 million, Trump said.
The Department of Defense accepted an anonymous donation Thursday “under its general gift acceptance authority,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said. “The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members' salaries and benefits.”
Compensation for service members is funded through annual appropriations by Congress. But those appropriations lapsed on October 1, with the U.S. is now enduring the second-longest shutdown in the country’s history.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "all available funds" to ensure troops are compensated during the lapse in appropriations.
The anonymous donation has sparked some concerns.
A spokesperson for Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, told The Independent: “Using anonymous donations to fund our military raises troubling questions of whether our own troops are at risk of literally being bought and paid for by foreign powers. Nobody wants to see our men and women in uniform work without pay, and the best way to pay our troops would be for President Trump and Republicans to work with Democrats to reopen the government and address the skyrocketing costs affecting American families.”
Before accepting gifts valued at more than $10,000, acceptance authorities must consult an ethics official, according to Department of Defense policy from March.
The policy also requires some scrutiny of the donor, like ensuring the donor “does not have interests that may be affected substantially by the performance or nonperformance of the DoD employee’s official duties.”
Little is known about the anonymous donor.
“I would love to tell you he deserves– he doesn’t really want the recognition,” Trump said at the roundtable, calling the unnamed man a “patriot.”
Ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington slammed in a social media post: “This should go without saying, but the American government should be funded by the American people, not anonymous mega-donor friends of the president.”
“This is not how things should work in a democracy—this raises all sorts of legal and ethical alarms,” the group added.
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate appropriations committee, is seeking information on “how this gift—and-other recent reprogramming—complies with the Anti-Deficiency Act,” his spokesperson told CNN.
The act prohibits federal agencies from spending federal funds in excess of what Congress has appropriated for them.
It’s not immediately clear how many salaries that amount of money would cover. The Pentagon declined to respond to a question about paychecks.
“There are too many variables to accurately estimate how many personnel $130 million would pay, but with very rough calculations, it might cover about 2 percent of the active-duty force,” Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon comptroller and now a senior fellow at the think tank American Enterprise Institute, told Bloomberg.
Matthew Lawrence, an Emory University law professor and former White House budget official, also expressed skepticism, pointing to the Army Clause of the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to “raise and support” the military and requires it to renew appropriations every two years.
“The framers were very concerned about presidential control of a standing army,” he told Bloomberg. “Allowing an army to be supported outside the appropriations process, such as during a lapse in appropriations, would run directly counter to this constitutional imperative.”
On Thursday, a group of Democratic Senators introduced the True Shutdown Fairness Act, which would restart pay for furloughed federal workers, service members and federal contractors during the shutdown.
“We must keep pressing to reopen the government with a responsible agreement that holds the President accountable to the law, protects federal workers and our servicemembers, and prevents massive spikes in Americans’ health care costs,” Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.
The troops are set to receive their next paycheck on October 31.
Trump’s $300 million ballroom likely to bear a familiar name - his own, report says
Pentagon accepts $130 million donation to help pay the military during the government shutdown
Miguel's 'CAOS,' fueled by anger and angst, is his first studio album in nearly a decade
Trump to sit down with Xi on Asia trip
Trump team announces plans to open controversial road through Alaskan wildlife refuge
Ronald Reagan’s daughter rips ‘heartbreaking’ teardown of White House’s East Wing
