Military to receive paychecks despite shutdown, Trump says
President Trump said in a post on Truth Social over the weekend that he was directing Defense Secretary 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,” Mr. Trump said.
A Pentagon official said around $8 billion in funds from the previous fiscal year had been identified to cover the mid-month paychecks if the shutdown continues past Oct. 15.
The Oct. 15 deadline for military paychecks had been widely viewed as a possible offramp in the stalemate, focusing pressure on both sides to come to the table to avoid service members missing their paychecks.
Some lawmakers had pushed for standalone legislation to pay the military, in line with similar measures taken during previous shutdowns, but it didn’t get the backing of GOP leaders.
Other federal workers will not receive paychecks until the shutdown ends.
The president, asked about the shutdown on Air Force One Sunday, told reporters that “we’re taking care of it.”
“We’ve got the military paid in full, and we’re doing a lot of things,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re ending some programs that we don’t want, they happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs…. I think they made a big mistake.”
By Kaia Hubbard, Zachary Hudak
Smithsonian museums close due to government shutdown
Smithsonian museums, research centers and the National Zoo closed Sunday due to the government shutdown. The Smithsonian Institution had previously announced it was using prior-year funding to keep the locations open to the public through Oct. 11.
Vance accuses Democrats of “hostage-taking”
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday accused Democrats of “hostage-taking” with their posture in the government shutdown, as Democratic leaders in Congress have pushed for serious negotiations with Republican leaders and the White House to end the stalemate.
“We don’t negotiate with a person who has taken the entire federal government hostage over a health care policy dispute,” Vance said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Read more here.
Senate to vote again Tuesday on House-passed measure to reopen government
The Senate is still out of town for the federal holiday Monday and is scheduled to return Tuesday afternoon, before an evening vote on the House-passed measure to fund the government.
Senate Republicans have been hoping to gain more support from Democrats for the measure after seven failed votes. But Democrats haven’t budged since before the shutdown began. Three senators have consistently crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans as leaders seek five more Democrats willing to break with their party to reopen the government. But most Democrats have stuck to their demand that expiring health insurance tax credits must be extended as part of an agreement to reopen the government. One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, has consistently voted to oppose the bill.
Meanwhile, the House will remain on recess this week after GOP leadership canceled votes. The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, after passing a measure to fund the government until Nov. 21. Since then, Republican leadership has stressed that the House has done its job, putting pressure on the Senate to pass the bill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called House Democrats back to Washington this week, writing in a letter to colleagues Saturday that they would return to Washington and have a caucus meeting Tuesday evening to “discuss the path forward.”
Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, say the way to resolve the shutdown is through negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House. Republicans contend there’s nothing to negotiate, since the House has already passed a measure to keep the government funded, urging Democrats to back it in the Senate.
