Troop Pay Expected, Funding Sources Unclear

Vice President J.D. Vance said Tuesday he expects active-duty service members will receive paychecks by Friday despite the government shutdown, but he did not specify how future payrolls will be covered. The administration has been tapping unobligated Defense Department research-and-development funds, accepted an anonymous $130 million gift, and Pentagon officials have identified roughly $8 billion in unspent R&D funds — though some Republicans have questioned the legal authority to use those sources and Treasury warned they could run out by mid-November. The shutdown, now nearly a month long, threatens Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits within a week and has left many federal workers missing pay, prompting the largest federal employee union to demand a clean continuing resolution. Senate Republicans are trying to persuade a handful of Democrats to back stopgap funding, but a Senate vote to reopen the government failed for the 13th time and Democrats are insisting on protections against mass firings and negotiations on health-care issues. Vance urged GOP unity and warned the “pot of money” is limited, while senators privately expressed frustration and uncertainty about how long troop pay and other critical services can be sustained without a broader funding agreement.