Vance says US to pay military troops this week despite shutdown

Erik Wasson, Alicia Diaz and Jamie Tarabay, Bloomberg News on Oct 28, 2025

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Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he expects the Trump administration to pay military personnel on Friday, even as the government shutdown shows no end in sight.

“We believe that we can continue to pay the troops on Friday,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Republican senators at the Capitol.

The administration circumvented Congress and moved about $8 billion in research and development funds to cover the military’s payroll on Oct. 15. But Republicans have cautioned that they could not guarantee paychecks for troops if the shutdown persisted.

Vance did not explain how the White House would pay the military and Republican Senator Mike Rounds said the issue did not come up during their lunch.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said he doesn’t know what money the administration would be able to use to pay troops.

It appears that other federal workers, including Defense Department civilians and air traffic controllers, will continue to go without pay.

“Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to pay everybody because we’ve been handed a very bad hand by the Democrats,” Vance said.

Senate Democrats have maintained their blockade of a Republican-backed short-term funding package to reopen the government despite a plea from the head of the largest union of federal workers to yield. Democrats are demanding that the Republican-controlled Congress renew expiring health-care subsidies.

The shutdown’s impact is spreading as the funding lapse, the second longest in U.S. history, stretches into its 28th day.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Tuesday that flight delays risk getting worse after air traffic controllers missed their first full paycheck. Though essential federal employees are required to continue working without pay during shutdowns, they typically call in sick in greater numbers the longer they go without pay.

Controller staffing shortages have already resulted in delays at airports across the U.S. since the government shutdown began on Oct. 1. On Monday, airports serving Newark, New Jersey, as well as Austin and Dallas, were among those experiencing disruptions.

Low-income Americans also will soon face more pressure. The Trump administration has said it won’t distribute funding to states for November food aid as long as the shutdown lasts, prompting New York and several other Democratic-led states to file a lawsuit on Tuesday.

The states accused U.S. officials of unlawfully refusing to tap alternative sources of money during the federal government shutdown.

In the lawsuit, the attorneys general and governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia argued the department must use nearly $6 billion in contingency funding to keep the program operational for as long as possible.

“For weeks, my office has been sounding the alarm over the impact of the GOP shutdown on New Yorkers’ access to critical programs like SNAP,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a Tuesday statement.

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(With assistance from Allyson Versprille and Jack Fitzpatrick.)

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