While the federal government remains in a partial shutdown, the Trump administration said on Saturday, Oct. 11, that it would pay troops by accessing unused funds set aside for research and development.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, Oct. 13, that the shutdown is impacting the nation. “This is getting serious. It’s starting to affect the real economy,” he told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” program.
Bessent added that, to allow paychecks to U.S. military service members, the government was having to hold back payments to other federal workers and services, including Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo.
“We are having to shuffle things around. We are having to furlough workers here in DC and around the country,” Bessent said in the interview.
In a Truth Social post on Oct. 11, Trump said he is using his authority as commander in chief to direct Secretary of War 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,” Trump said.
According to Reuters, legislation must be passed by Monday, Oct. 13, for troops’ paychecks to be processed on time due to the number of people involved. But because Columbus Day is a federal holiday, Congress is not in session, meaning that no legislation will be passed.
There are roughly 1.3 million active-duty members of the U.S. military. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of National Guard members and non-service members employed by the Department of War, previously known as the Department of Defense, are also at risk of going without pay.
On Oct. 9, a woman who identified herself as a military wife confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, while he was speaking on C-SPAN.
“As a Republican, I’m very disappointed in my party, and I’m very disappointed in you, because you have the power to call the House back,” the woman told Johnson, adding her two children with severe medical conditions “could die.” “You refuse to do that, just for a show.”
Military members are still working throughout the shutdown as their roles are considered essential for national security. Troops are expected to receive back pay once the shutdown ends.
Congress sets military pay rates. Some congressional members have recently advocated for a $3.8% raise for military members as part of a defense authorization bill, which is expected to pass by the end of the year, Reuters reported. This legislation has received support from members on both sides of the aisle.Contributing: Bart Jansen, Joey Garrison and Mike Snider; Reuters
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com