Trump Says He Will Pay Troops Despite Government Shutdown

Politics|Trump Says He Will Pay Troops Despite Government Shutdown

President Trump said on Saturday that he had “identified funds” that would allow the administration to pay members of the military on Oct. 15, even though the government remains shut down and Congress has not approved additional money for the troops.

The White House budget office said only that the money would be sourced from research and development funds previously approved for the Department of War for a two-year period, but offered no further details about the president’s plans.

In a social media post, Mr. Trump said that he had directed Defense Secretary 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,” Mr. Trump added. “I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Trump’s budgetary maneuvering appeared unorthodox, even though it may spare more than 1 million active-duty service members from the financial hardship of missing a paycheck next week. It was not clear how much money the administration had at its disposal, and how long it could rely on accounting moves to pay troops during the shutdown.

Typically, the troops do not receive wages while the government is closed, a political hazard that often spurs Democrats and Republicans into brokering a spending deal. Lawmakers otherwise have had to adopt special legislation to pay the military during a federal stoppage.

But Mr. Trump has repeatedly sought to push the limits of his power in the current shutdown, now in its 11th day. The president and his aides have lessened the pain of the closure for some, and maximized it for others, including Democrats, whom Mr. Trump is trying to pressure into supporting a short-term spending deal.

Mr. Trump previously told reporters that he supported legislation to pay the troops during the shutdown, siding with House Republicans who have military bases in their districts. But Republican leaders said there was no need for such a measure, and insisted that Senate Democrats should simply pass the stopgap resolution to fund the entire government into November.

“You’ve got a military pay bill right here,” Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, said on Friday at the Capitol, brandishing a copy of the stopgap bill. “This pays the military.”