Republican lawmakers have criticized Donald Trump’s plan to use congressional funds to pay the military during the government shutdown, now the second-longest in history.
Last week, the president authorized the Pentagon and the White House to use “any funds” left over from the current fiscal year to pay active-duty service members.
Normally, the president needs congressional approval before moving funds around in a process called “reprogramming.”
Now, Trump’s unilateral action has unsettled his own lawmakers.
Senator Jerry Moran, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said: “While this is a desirable outcome, there is a process that – under the Constitution and the law – requires Congress not only to consult, but to participate.” political.
Meanwhile, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Trump was not following due process by redirecting the money.
“There is a way for us to take care of this. It’s called appropriations. It’s called rescheduling. And I don’t think that’s going to be followed,” he said.
according to politicalThe Trump administration told lawmakers it plans to use $6.5 billion of the remaining $10 billion earmarked for military research to pay troops.
The president reportedly said he needed to take control of the budget because continuing to pay US troops would be an “unacceptable threat to military readiness.”
His move blocked a Senate hearing scheduled for this week to consider legislation to pay veterans and federal workers.
60 votes are needed for approval, with Republicans holding 53 seats in the Senate and Democrats holding 45 seats.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security memo, which was seen by the Department of Homeland Security Huffington Post, It revealed that the White House also wanted to continue funding ICE during the shutdown.
The memo claimed that the move would be “in line with the government’s commitment to law enforcement officers.”
It directed DHS to “allocate available funds to ensure full and timely payment” during the shutdown.
The 2025 government shutdown is the second-longest in history, lasting three weeks.
The longest shutdown in US history began on December 22, 2018 and ended on January 25, 2019. The shutdown lasted for 35 days and unfolded during the first administration of Donald Trump.
At the time, the president was seeking $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Eventually, the government reopened with a deal that awarded $1.375 billion in funding for the wall, which many saw as an example of Trump backing down.
The previous record was held by Bill Clinton’s administration, which lasted 21 days from December 1995 to January 1996.
This follows an earlier government shutdown, which occurred after President Clinton rejected the budget bill from the Republican-controlled Congress. The shutdown ended after Republicans agreed to a bill amended by Clinton.
