Pentagon moves $8 billion from research to pay troops

The Department of Defense is shifting $8 billion in previously allocated money to pay troops for the middle of the month as the government shutdown continues.

With the shutdown approaching two full weeks and Congress not looking to see any votes until Tuesday at the earliest, military service members’ Oct. 15 paychecks are in jeopardy. President Donald Trump announced earlier today that he was directing the Department of Defense to use “all available funds” to pay military members on Oct. 15. His social media post did not specify how much would be used or where it would come from. Late Saturday afternoon the Pentagon confirmed the amount and the sourcing.

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“The President has directed the Secretary of War to use available funds to pay service members on October 15th. The Department of War has identified approximately $8 billion of unobligated research development testing and evaluation funds (RDTE) from the prior fiscal year that will be used to issue mid month paychecks to service members in the event the funding lapse continues past October 15th,” a Defense Department official told Task & Purpose in a statement, using the Trump administration’s unofficial nickname for the department. “We will provide more information as it becomes available.“

The government shutdown started Oct. 1. Military service members were paid for the start of the month, but as the shutdown has carried on, mid-month pay appeared in jeopardy. Charity groups and nonprofit organizations that help support military personnel and families have allocated millions to assist. Military.com reported that food pantries have already seen a rise in traffic from military families, with local news capturing footage of uniformed military members in line to get assistance.

It’s not clear if the Department of Defense will shift additional money should the shutdown stretch to the next pay day.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives rejected a proposal to pass a stand-alone bill to pay troops. On Friday Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he would not be holding votes this coming week in the House of Representatives until the Senate passes a bill. The Senate is not expected to hold any votes until Tuesday, Oct. 14, just before troops are expected to be paid.