Trump says US troops will get paid Oct. 15 despite funding lapse

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said Saturday that America's 1.3 million military service members will get paid on Oct. 15 despite a congressional budget lapse that led to a partial government shutdown.

Typically, military members don't get paid when Congress fails to approve funding. However, Trump said he directed U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to find the cash to make sure U.S. troops get their next paycheck on Oct. 15. Many were preparing to go without, as they had in previous shutdowns.

The president invoked his authority as Commander in Chief of the armed forces to pay service members. 

"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," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday.

Some 334,900 civilian employees at the Department of Defense were set to be furloughed during the government shutdown, according to a Pentagon contingency plan released before the shutdown took effect.

Each day the federal government remains closed costs U.S. taxpayers about $400 million just in salary for about 750,000 furloughed federal workers.

Workers generally don't collect that back pay until after they return to work when the shutdown ends. The practice upends the lives of federal employees and their families for an uncertain period while Congress struggles to pass a funding bill. Each party has blamed the other for the shutdown.

The ongoing government shutdown stretched into its tenth day on Saturday. 

The previous government shutdown lasted 35 days during Trump's first term.