U.S. President Donald Trump has directed that military personnel be paid next week despite the ongoing government shutdown that has left many civil servants without salaries.
Trump said he had instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to ensure that troops receive their pay on October 15, even as the funding impasse between Republicans and Democrats entered its second week.
“I have ordered Secretary Pete Hegseth to use all available funds to get our troops paid on October 15,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, accusing Democrats of holding the nation’s security “hostage” with what he called a “dangerous shutdown.”
The U.S. government partially shut down on September 30 after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a funding bill before the deadline. The stalemate has forced nonessential government operations to stop, while thousands of federal employees continue to work without pay.
The main point of disagreement has been a Republican push to exclude provisions extending subsidies that help make health insurance affordable for more than 24 million Americans.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of civil servants have been placed on temporary unpaid leave, while essential workers — including about 1.3 million active-duty military personnel — faced the prospect of missing their salaries for the first time in modern U.S. history.
The White House on Friday confirmed it had begun mass layoffs in several government departments, saying about 4,000 workers could lose their jobs if the funding crisis persists.
Observers say the former president’s directive is part of a broader effort to increase pressure on opposition Democrats to end the shutdown, which has disrupted public services nationwide.
