Amid the war of words between Republicans and Democrats over the Schumer Shutdown, it’s been noted that something had to happen and soon in order to ensure our troops got paid by their pay date of October 15th.
This is something that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has repeatedly emphasized in his daily press conference since the shutdown started:
“This gets very real,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican. “Checks to our troops will be held up Oct. 15 if [Democrats] don’t come in here tomorrow [Oct. 8th] and vote to reopen the government. You have to get it resolved by Oct. 13, which is Monday, in order to process those checks.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), on the other hand, blamed Republicans for the fact that Senate Democrats wouldn’t relent on the continuing resolution the House sent over on September 19th:
That narrative, however, was shattered by reports like this:
Though there had been talk, pushed by House Democrats and even a few Republicans who have military installations in their districts, of a standalone bill to pay the military and air traffic controllers, it was rejected by Johnson, who noted that the funding is in the clean continuing resolution that Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), refuse to budge on.
On Saturday, however, all the talk about military pay became a moot point for the time being after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had directed Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to pay them for this pay period:
Chuck Schumer recently said, “Every day gets better” during their Radical Left Shutdown. I DISAGREE! If nothing is done, because of “Leader” Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th. 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. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS. I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The AP reported that “research and development” funds would be used:
Trump did not say where he’s getting the money, but a spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget said Pentagon research and development funds would be tapped.
This takes the military pay issue off the table for at least another two weeks and buys Republican leaders more time to flex their muscle and to put more public and private pressure on enough Senate Democrats to make the Schumer Shutdown a thing of the past.
We’ll keep you posted on any significant developments.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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