President Trump on Saturday instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to allocate all of the department’s “available funds” to ensure military service members are paid during the government shutdown.
Blaming congressional Democrats, particularly Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Trump stated that troops would miss their upcoming paychecks. Service members are supposed to receive their next payment on October 15.
Trump announced, “I am utilizing my authority as Commander in Chief to instruct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use every available resource to make sure our troops receive their pay on October 15th,” via his post on Truth Social.
“We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS,” Trump said.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Defense (DOD) and the White House for comment.
This comes after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cast blame on Democrats for the potential pay lapse.
“HR 5371 (the Continuing Resolution) is the bill that ensures our troops are paid,” Johnson shared on the social media platform X. “No military personnel or their families should experience a pay delay on October 15! The bill already passed the House, and a simple affirmative vote by five additional Democrats on Tuesday would allow the military to receive their pay on Wednesday.”
Pressure mounts from both Democrats and Republicans on Johnson to reconvene lawmakers in Washington for a vote on a bill that guarantees military staff are paid next week despite the government shutdown.
Reps. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Derek Tran (D-Calif.) wrote to Johnson on Wednesday, urging him to bring House members back before Wednesday to pass the necessary legislation.
“If Congress does not act by October 15th, nearly three million military families will miss their next paycheck,” they write in the letter, first reported by Punchbowl News. “That’s unacceptable our military families and troops deserve better.”
“We can have policy and political fights in Congress, but we simply can’t ask service members to put themselves in harm’s way without paying them,” Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chair of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. “It should be a red line for anyone who cares about our national security and our troops.”
Trump also supported the bill and said it was something “that probably will happen.”
But on Friday, Johnson said that any votes in the House will only happen once a funding bill is passed.
Updated at 3:18 p.m.
