Military starts getting paid from odd source as shutdown hits Day 15 and rest of federal workers go without

Members of the U.S. military were due to receive their pay on Wednesday as the Trump administration and the Pentagon turn to alternate revenue streams to keep checks flowing to service members amid the now 15-day-old government shutdown.

The federal government ran out of money at midnight on October 1 after Senate Democrats blocked a continuing resolution that to keep the government open that Republicans passed.

Democrats want any stopgap spending bill to include an extension of enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace since the tax credits expire at the end of this year.

But over the weekend, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth identified money to pay military servicemembers.

“I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown,” he said.

Politico reported that an Office of Management and Budget official said the money would come from its research and development pot. About $8 billion is being moved from accounts focused on research, development, testing and evaluation efforts.

Rep Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), who represents Virginia Beach and is herself a Navy veteran, praised the move.

“This is exactly what my Pay Our Troops Act was aiming to accomplish!” Kiggans posted on X “I am grateful for a Commander-in-Chief who cares about our service members and their families. Now it’s time to get the government open!”

Previously, some Democrats and even some Republicans had floated a standalone bill to ensure that military service members would continue being paid amid the shutdown.

The move will likely buy House Speaker Mike Johnson more time. Johnson said earlier this week that “we’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history.”

The longest shutdown happened in between December 2018 and January 2019, when Trump initiated a government shutdown because he wanted to include spending for his proposed US-Mexico border wall. That effort ultimately failed.

So far, Johnson has refused to call Congress back into session. Johnson has argued that the House of Representatives has already done its job to stop a government shutdown and it’s now the job of the Senate to work on legislation.

The House passed a so-called “clean” continuing resolution to keep federal spending at their current rates. Currently, Congress has not finished crafting the 12 spending bills needed to fully fund the federal government for an entire fiscal year.

But Democrats have so far not shown any indication that they want to pass the continuing resolution. Only three members of the Senate Democratic caucus–Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and John Fetterman (D-Penn.)–voted for the continuing resolution.

This also comes as other federal workers have been put on furlough without pay. In addition, last week OMB director Russell Vought said he had begun conducting reductions in force to layoff federal workers.

The money for troops will give Republicans a little more leverage, but they still face a big deadline of the beginning of November, when health insurance marketplaces begin to announce their new premiums.