WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Saturday he will use “all available funds” to pay service members who were set to miss their paychecks next week if the federal government shutdown continues in its third week.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he has directed the Pentagon to pay the military if the funding lapse drags on past Oct. 15, the pay day for troops. The move became necessary if the White House wanted to ensure troops got paid during the impasse after Republican leadership chose not to bring up a stand-alone military pay bill.
Before the president made the weekend announcement, bipartisan rank-and-file lawmakers, including some members of Alabama’s delegation, had either been pushing for or said they would support a stand-alone bill that would pay military members while the federal government remains shut down.
Getting a vote on that bill on the House or Senate floor proved unlikely. On Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled House votes for next week, which will mark a month without any House votes. The chamber last voted on Sept. 19.
“We have voted so many times to pay the troops,” Johnson, R-LA, said during a press conference Friday. “We did it in the House three weeks ago. The ball is in the court of Senate Democrats right now. That’s it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune echoed the fact that the Republican short-term spending measure would also fund the military if enough Senate Democrats joined Republicans to advance it past the 60-vote threshold.
“There’s a military pay bill right here,” Thune said, waving a paper copy of the stopgap funding bill around at a press conference Friday.
Alabama is home to several military bases and thousands of service members.
Before Trump decided to find a way to pay the troops during the third week of the shutdown, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt’s office told Alabama Daily News she would support a military pay bill if one made it to the Senate floor.
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Sen. Tommy Tuberville told ADN he “wants to ensure ALL government employees are paid” and has voted multiple times “to re-open the government.”
“If you have a question about military pay, reach out to any one of the 44 Democrat Senators who have repeatedly voted no.”
In the House, a group of bipartisan members supports the Pay Our Troops Act, which would pay service members during the funding lapse. The legislation has more than 100 cosponsors.
Republican Rep. Dale Strong, who represents Redstone Arsenal, is one of the cosponsors.
“The last thing the Congressman wants is for our service members to miss a paycheck, which is why he voted on September 19 to keep the government open and not jeopardize our troops’ pay,” a spokesperson for Strong told ADN Friday.
Democratic Reps. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, and Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, are also cosponsors and said they would support a stand-alone bill if one made it on the House floor. On Friday, Figures’ office said the congressman also supports two other bills that would pay troops and members of the Coast Guard during a shutdown.
Alabama U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, and Mike Rogers, R-Saks, could not be reached for comment on a stand-alone military pay bill.
Trump’s move could relieve some pressure on lawmakers to end the shutdown this week, potentially making the deadlock in Congress extend even longer. The government has been shut down for 12 days. Trump has not said he would also find a way to pay federal employees who are not receiving pay during the lapse in funding.
The Pentagon identified about $8 billion of unobligated research and development funds that will be used for military pay, the Associated Press reported.