President Donald Trump said Saturday that he has directed the Defense Department officials to pay members of the military amid the ongoing government shutdown.
“I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The decision comes as both Republicans and Democrats have voiced concerns about the military receiving their paychecks on Oct. 15 due to the shutdown, which has lasted for 10 days so far.
Trump blamed Democrats for the ongoing shutdown, writing, “If nothing is done, because of ‘Leader’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.”
Senate Democratic leadership has proposed a temporary funding measure that would keep the government open through the end of October and restore cuts to Medicaid.
Republicans have not joined Democrats to pass the measure.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters he was hopeful that the White House would find a way to pay the military their checks.
“I think, to their credit, the White House has now, for 10 days, laid off doing anything in hopes that enough Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the right thing and fund the government. But now, now that we’re getting these where people are going to start missing paychecks, this gets real,” he said.
“This gets real for families, a lot of military families who live paycheck to paycheck, a lot of American families who live paycheck to paycheck, who are federal employees. And so I just think that the White House, my expectation is, yes, they’re going to start making some decisions about how to move money around,” the majority leader added.
