Trump Takes Action Amid Government Shutdown to Ensure Military Pay
President Donald Trump is working to ensure that U.S. service members will receive their paychecks next week, even though the government is still shut down. He’s instructed his administration to locate and allocate available funds as Congress remains at an impasse over military compensation.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that he had directed Army Secretary Pete Hegseth to “use all available funds to pay our troops on October 15th.” He claimed, “We have identified funding to do this, and Secretary Hegseth intends to use it to pay our troops.” Trump emphasized that he refuses to let Democrats “hold our military and our entire national security hostage with a dangerous government shutdown.”
The government shutdown, which started on October 1, is now in its second week following Senate Democrats’ rejection of several clean continuing resolutions to maintain previous funding levels. Trump has consistently stated that essential personnel—including 1.3 million active-duty military members and many National Guard troops—will continue working. However, Congressional aides informed Reuters that a bill must be passed by Monday, October 13, to process payroll in time for the normal mid-month payday on October 15.
Trump’s remarks came after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed that “Every day gets better” for Democrats during the shutdown. Trump countered, “I disagree! If we do nothing, our brave troops will miss out on their rightful paycheck on October 15th because of ‘Leader’ Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party.”
Chairman Mike Johnson (R-La.) also weighed in, claiming that Senate Democrats were “shutting down the government over a clean CR,” and criticized Schumer for yielding to the “Marxist wing” of his party. He pointed out that countless federal employees, including military families, are already feeling financial strain in states like Virginia, California, and Maryland. “What Chuck Schumer is doing right now is beyond the pale,” Johnson added, suggesting that the ongoing shutdown is “sickening to real Americans.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) remarked that Schumer was acting to please the “pro-Hamas, pro-terrorism wing of his party” by holding the government “hostage.” He argued that the shutdown puts U.S. military personnel at risk, forcing them to “fight terrorists around the world for free.”
The shutdown has caused financial strain for military and civil defense personnel. Financial institutions like Navy Federal Credit Union have implemented bridging loans and Paycheck Protection Programs, assisting approximately 19,000 individuals with over $50 million in loans during the previous government shutdown in 2019. The National Military Families Association indicated on Facebook that nearly 35,000 letters were sent to Congress prior to the shutdown urging the passage of the Military Pay Act, introduced by Rep. Jennifer Quiggins (R-Va.).
Despite this mounting pressure, Senate Democrats have consistently blocked short-term funding bills intended to reopen the government. Meanwhile, reports show that some Democratic caucus members plan to attend a Napa Valley training camp hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on October 13 and 14, which has drawn criticism from Republicans who claim the party is taking a “vacation during the shutdown.”
Trump’s recent efforts seek to circumvent political gridlock and ensure that partisan struggles in Congress do not leave service members without their paychecks. “The Radical Left Democrats should open the government,” he stated, “so we can work together to address health care and many of the other things they are trying to destroy.”
