Active-duty service members could soon begin missing paychecks if Congress fails to reach a deal to end the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, officials in Washington are warning. The stalemate, now in its fourth week since beginning on October 1, is already the second-longest shutdown in American history and could soon surpass the 34-day record set during Donald Trump’s first term.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday that temporary funding used to pay military personnel is running out. “We were able to pay the military employees from excess funds at the Pentagon, middle of this month,” Bessent said. “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. What an embarrassment.”
The last payday for service members was October 15. Trump signed a memorandum that same day authorizing payments to active-duty personnel using any available federal funds. However, uncertainty remains about whether that order covers the next scheduled payday on October 31. When asked Monday if troops would receive their paychecks this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted, “We’re not 100% sure.”
The funding issue has become a flashpoint in the broader political standoff between Democrats and Republicans over the shutdown. On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-backed bill that would have paid active-duty troops and other essential federal workers during the shutdown. Critics argued that the bill gave the Trump Administration too much discretion over which employees would be paid. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “a ruse” that could extend the shutdown rather than resolve it.
Democrats instead advanced a separate proposal to guarantee pay for all federal workers and contractors, but Republicans voted it down. “Republicans are hell-bent on letting Trump pick winners and losers here, but every federal worker, service member, and contractor deserves to get paid,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who sponsored the Democratic bill.
In an unusual move, President Trump recently announced that his Administration had accepted a private donation of $130 million to help pay troops during the shutdown. While he did not name the donor, The New York Times later identified billionaire Timothy Mellon as the contributor. With more than 1.3 million active-duty personnel, the donation amounts to roughly $100 per service member — far short of the estimated $600 billion in annual military pay obligations.
The Administration’s handling of federal worker compensation has also drawn controversy. Earlier this month, Trump suggested that some federal employees “don’t deserve to be taken care of” during the shutdown. Reports later surfaced that the White House was reviewing legal options to deny back pay to furloughed workers once the government reopens — a move that could contradict a law Trump himself signed in 2019 guaranteeing such pay.
If the impasse continues beyond mid-November, it could mark the first time in modern U.S. history that active-duty military personnel go unpaid during a government shutdown — an outcome both parties have said they hope to avoid.
