Journalism of Courage
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he has directed the defence department to “use of available funds” to ensure US troops are paid on Wednesday despite the federal government shutdown, which is being seen as a short-term fix and which will not apply to hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have already been furloughed by the authorities, AP reported.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “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.” The president said that he is taking the action as US troops were poised to miss their paychecks on October 15.
Though the US president did not detail on the funding sources or the total amount that would be required to disbursed by the Pentagon for the troop salaries, but a Pentagon official, quoted by Reuters said that around $8 billion that was set aside for research, development, testing and evaluation would be utilised to pay military personnel if the shutdown persists after October 15.
Though the decision by President Trump removes one of the key pressure points that could have forced the Congress back into action and now the shutdown, which has already entered into its 11th day and counting, would likely continue into a third week and possibly beyond that.
Meanwhile, no such action of a paycheck backup has been taken for federal workers wherein hundreds of thousands have been furloughed and thousands are now being laid off by the federal government during the lapse in operation. On Friday, the White House budget office had started the layoffs.
The Republican Party controls the House of Representatives and the Senate. But for the Republicans to pass a spending bill in the Senate, they require 60 votes and President Donald Trump’s party must convince at least seven Democratic senators to pass the measure.
(with inputs from agencies)
