President Donald Trump’s move to pay active-duty troops this week amid the shutdown is only a “temporary fix,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday, warning that service members will miss their Oct. 31 paychecks if Democrats don’t reopen the government by then.
The Pentagon moved Saturday to tap unused research and development funding to cover the checks due Wednesday to 1.3 million active-duty troops, as well as tens of thousands of National Guard members and reservists on active-duty orders. But the next round of paychecks is not guaranteed, Johnson said at a news conference, as he accused Democrats of using members of the military as “hostages.”
The White House has informed some lawmakers that it tapped roughly $6.5 billion for this week’s paychecks, less than the $8 billion the Trump administration disclosed over the weekend. That funding comes from a pot of about $10 billion leftover military R&D funding that’s available into next fall, according to a person familiar with the plan who was granted anonymity to speak about the details.
It’s unclear if the administration has other accounts it can tap for future paychecks. By law, it can transfer up to $8 billion between military accounts for the fiscal year that just came to a close Sept. 30. But the administration has not sought approval as required from senior congressional appropriators. The White House budget office has also yet to explain to top lawmakers the legal rationale for moving the money.
Many lawmakers in both parties support moving standalone legislation that would pay troops for the duration of the shutdown, but Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both argued the solution was for Senate Democrats to approve the stopgap spending bill the House approved last month.
“House members have already voted to ensure our servicemembers receive their pay,” Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) said alongside Johnson on Wednesday.
While a swath of House and Senate Republicans have voiced private concerns to GOP leaders about the need for a separate troop pay bill, Republican leaders have remained opposed. They have argued that addressing troop pay would unleash a clamor from members and the public for other “rifle shot” bills that would reopen key parts of the federal government but ease pressure for an overall end to the shutdown, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the talks.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a senior Republican appropriator, said she thinks Trump’s move to pay troops “did take a little bit of the pressure off” Congress to reach an agreement to end the shutdown — to the detriment of other federal workers who aren’t getting paid.
“We’ve got to get the government fully open for everybody,” she told reporters Tuesday night. “We’ve got to make sure that those who are working — those who are taking care of us, keeping our skies safe, and solving some of the issues that we ask our federal employees to take on — get their paychecks.”
Leo Shane III contributed to this report.
