Vance: Troops will get paid at end of week

Vice President Vance told reporters after the Tuesday Senate Republican policy lunch that 1.3 million military service members will get paid at the end of this week, despite the government shutdown that has dragged on for 28 days.

“Will the troops get paid on Friday? Yes, we believe that we can continue to pay the troops on Friday,” Vance told reporters. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to pay everybody because we’ve been handed a very bad hand by the Democrats. This is one of the reasons why you’ve seen some layoffs in the federal workforce.”

“We do think we can continue to pay the troops at least for now. But we’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out at the end of the week,” he added.

Pentagon officials have identified $8 billion in unspent research, development and technology funds to redirect to pay the troops, although some Republican senators have had questions about what precise legal authority Trump is using to redirect funds.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the Pentagon has enough unobligated funding to pay members of the military through October but warned funding would run out by the time troops are due to receive their Nov. 15 paychecks.

“I think we’ll be able to pay them beginning in November, but by Nov. 15 our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives aren’t going to be able to get paid,” Bessent told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Source: The Hill