President Trump said Saturday he would use his authority as commander in chief to pay military troops despite the government shutdown that has furloughed federal employees.
Trump blasted Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and noted that if the government doesn’t reopen by Oct. 15th, the nation’s warriors and Pentagon employees will miss paychecks.
“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 on October 15th,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”
He did not provide specifics on the funding mechanism. A democratic Senate amendment that would have paid active duty military failed to make it through Friday.
Trump’s online pressure came a day after a court filing revealed that more than 4,000 federal employees were getting laid off through “Reductions in Force” that Trump and his top administration members had been threatening.
The filing indicated that many of the laid off employees come with agencies Trump has tangled with, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IRS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
As Trump prepares to head to the Middle East to celebrate a deal to stop Israel’s war in Gaza and free hostages, the president accused Democrats of holding the military and the nation’s security “HOSTAGE.”
“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,” he wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump added that Schumer would be at fault if troops miss paychecks they are “rightfully due.”
The prospect of military members having to work without pay, sometimes while in peril overseas, threatens to ratchet up pressure over the shutdown.
With no indications of major talks between the White House and Congress, the White House had floated trying to use tariff revenue as a workaround to pay the troops.
Trump’s renamed War Department, like other federal government agencies, can’t make payroll under a shutdown scenario since Congress enacts all spending legislation through the appropriations process.
Democrats, who backed down to avert a shutdown in March, have so far held firm on rolling back Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “Big, beautiful bill,” while demanding Republicans agree to fund expiring Obamacare health insurance premium subsidies.
Other shutdown effects were beginning to take hold. The Smithsonian and the National Zoo were set to shutter on Saturday. And government programs from farm programs to loan applications and tax query services were set to go on ice or face long wait times.
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