Donald Trump has assured that military personnel will continue to receive their salaries despite the ongoing government shutdown, which has paralysed parts of the country and left many federal employees without pay.
Since the beginning of the month, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have failed to reach an agreement on the budget, triggering a shutdown. The US president has also threatened to dismiss federal employees during this period.
“I am using my powers as Commander-in-Chief to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to ensure our troops are paid on 15 October,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend.
It has now been nearly two weeks since more than 700,000 federal employees were placed on furlough.
In Congress, Republicans are pushing to keep the budget at last year’s level, while Democrats are calling for the extension of subsidies for insurance programmes that support the most vulnerable households.
