President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was directing Defense Department officials to pay members of the military next week, despite the ongoing federal government shutdown.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
This comes as Trump administration officials and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns that members of the military would not receive a paycheck on Oct. 15 due to the shutdown, which has lasted for 10 days so far.
Representatives the Defense Department did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment Saturday.
The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.
A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.
In the Truth Social post, Trump blamed Democrats for the ongoing shutdown, writing, “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.”
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In several votes over the last week, Senate lawmakers have not been able to reach a 60-vote threshold on a temporary stopgap funding measure that would reopen the government.
In September, the House — with all Republicans voting in favor and all but one Democrat voting against — passed a temporary funding bill that would keep the government open and running at previous funding levels through Nov. 21.
Not enough Senate Democrats have joined Republicans in voting in favor of that bill. Instead, Senate Democratic leadership has proposed a temporary funding measure that would keep the government open through the end of October and restore cuts to Medicaid that the GOP passed in a landmark domestic policy package earlier this year.
The Democratic-backed package would also extend federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act recipients that are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans have not joined Democrats to pass that measure.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that he was expecting the White House to find a way to pay troops in time for the Oct. 15 paycheck.
“I think, to their credit, the White House has now for 10 days laid off doing anything in hopes that the — enough Senate Democrats would come to their senses and do the right thing and fund the government. But now, now that we’re getting these where people are going to start missing paychecks, this gets real,” he said.
“This gets real for families, a lot of military families who live paycheck to paycheck, a lot of American families who live paycheck to paycheck, who are federal employees. And so I just think that the White House, my expectation is, yes, they’re going to start making some decisions about how to move money around,” the majority leader added.
Later Friday, the Trump administration began laying off thousands of federal workers across multiple federal agencies.
On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was confronted by a military spouse over the phone while taking calls from viewers on C-SPAN. She alleged that her family would not be able to afford their children’s medication without an Oct. 15 paycheck.
“If we see a lapse in pay come the 15th, my children do not get to get the medication that’s needed for them to live their life, because we live paycheck to paycheck,” the caller told Johnson.
Johnson told the caller that he was “angry because of situations just like yours.” He added that, “the Democrats are the ones that are preventing you from getting a check.”
Democrats in the House and Senate, meanwhile, last week pushed for a vote on a stand-alone piece of legislation that would ensure troops get paid during the federal government shutdown.
On Friday, Johnson told House lawmakers that there were no votes expected next week, extending the amount of time House lawmakers have been away from Washington.
“Republicans have completely abdicated their governance responsibility by cancelling votes in the House for a third consecutive week. Instead of voting on legislation to reopen the government, pay our troops and address the Republican healthcare crisis, they remain on vacation,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a letter to colleagues on Saturday.
