Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that service members will miss paychecks by Nov. 15 if the government shutdown stretches on, despite the Trump administration's previous assurances that members of the military will be paid amid the funding lapse.
Axar.az informs, citing CBS news, "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," Bessent said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."
President Trump directed the Pentagon to use unspent research and development funds to pay the military earlier this month, with around $8 billion in funds from the previous fiscal year identified to cover the mid-month paychecks. But officials have warned that the move was a temporary fix, and that members of the military risked missing their next paychecks at the end of the month, and beyond, if the shutdown continues.
Bessent suggested that members of the military will receive their upcoming paycheck, but he warned that if the shutdown continues, the U.S. would be unable to pay the service members by mid-November.
"What an embarrassment," Bessent said, putting the blame on Democratic leaders in Congress who he claimed are "worried about their primaries, and not the American people."