POLITICAL PAYDAY

Pentagon Pete Gets Trump Order to Pay Troops Despite Shutdown

Trump issued the order after footage of soldiers lining up at a food bank went viral online.

After House Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to pass a bill ensuring members of the military will be paid during the government shutdown, President Donald Trump swooped in to save the day, issuing an order to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Truth Social on Saturday.

In his post, the president once again blamed Democrats for the shutdown and for “our Brave Troops” missing their paychecks, which would usually be issued on the 15th of the month.

POOR PETEY

Pentagon Pete’s Plans Are Backfiring on Him

Laura Esposito

“Chuck Schumer recently said, ‘Every day gets better’ during their Radical Left Shutdown. I DISAGREE! If nothing is done, because of ‘Leader’ Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th,“ Trump wrote.

He continued, “That is why I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”

Trump ended his post with another dig at Democrats, writing, “I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown. The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT, and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy.”

With Republicans having blocked the effort by House Democrats to ensure members of the military would be paid using funds appropriated by Congress, two sources told NBC News that the Office of Management and Budget signaled its intent to use military research and development funds to pay service members instead.

Footage of military families lining up at food banks went viral on Friday after the government-associated Rapid Response 47 account posted it on X, with a caption that once again pointed the finger at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“The line at this food bank is filled with military families who have no idea when they’ll get their next paycheck—all because of Chuck Schumer and Democrats. Democrats should be ashamed of themselves, but that’d require them to have shame in the first place. Pathetic cowards,” the post read.

Military.com reported on Thursday that food banks in several parts of the country were experiencing a 30 percent uptick in traffic, with a senior official at the Armed Services YMCA telling the site that the organization saw an increase in demand once the shutdown began.

“Starting last week at our normal food operations, we saw an increase in demand,” Armed Services YMCA’s chief development & marketing officer Dorene Ocamb said.

“As a result, we ran out of food a little more quickly than normal. We had about a 34 percent increase in Killeen, Texas, which was the first sort of food distribution after the shutdown happened.”

Despite continued assurances from the president that soldiers would not be affected by the shutdown, Politico reported that some senior Republicans had been arguing in favor of letting troop pay lapse so that it could serve as a demonstration of the consequences of what they consider the Democrats’ shutdown.

Without feeling that pressure, Republicans argued, Democrats would be able to let the shutdown continue for weeks.

Happy to play the hero for the troops, the president otherwise took advantage of the shutdown to enact mass layoffs of federal workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was hit particularly hard in a Friday night “massacre” that saw entire departments wiped out under the watchful eye of Project 2025 architect Russ Vought.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Catherine BourisReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.