President Trump has directed the use of “all available funds” to pay military members while the government is closed.
Mr. Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social that “our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th.”
He added, “That is why 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. … We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS. I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown.”
The government shutdown hit its 11th day on Saturday.
The president and Republicans have blamed the Democrats, especially Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.
“The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT, and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy,” the president wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
In a post on X, Mr. Hegseth wrote, “President Trump delivers for the troops.”
Mr. Trump did not say where the funds would be coming from.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, railed against Democrats in an X post earlier Saturday, blaming them for the potential missing military pay.
“HR 5371 (the Continuing Resolution) is the bill to pay our troops,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “No one in the military or any military family should have their pay blocked on October 15! Since the bill ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE, a simple yes vote by five more Democrats on Tuesday would allow the military to be paid on Wednesday.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, told reporters on Friday that the White House would “probably” move money around to pay active duty military troops.
“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,” he said. “But now that … people are going to start missing paychecks, this gets real. 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.”
The announcement of the paychecks for troops comes a day after the White House budget office said the mass firings of federal workers had started. Over 4,000 employees received notices, a court filing said Friday.
