While the second-longest government shutdown in US history rages on, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that he believes US military members will be paid at the end of the week. That seems to be good news for military members. The bad news is that Vance didn’t specifically say where the government would find the money to pay the troops.
The funding food fight is already impacting millions of Americans, as more federal workers will miss their first full paycheck, delays at airports continue, and millions more Americans face the prospect of losing food assistance.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration ensured that military members got their mid-month pay by shifting $8 billion from military research and development funds to make payroll. It’s not clear whether the administration is willing or able to do that again.
While 1.3 million military members are concerned about their end-of-month paychecks, a larger issue looms: the unfunding of the Food Assistance Program (FAP). This program supports 42 million Americans with their grocery bills. The administration has stated it will not use more than $5 billion in contingency funds to continue FAP benefits into November, and states will not be reimbursed if they temporarily cover benefit costs next month.
Where Will the Government Find Funding?
The question of where the government will find the funding is still unanswered, and the administration appears to be banking on being able to strike a deal with some Democrat lawmakers.
“We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” Vance told reporters after lunch with Senate Republicans at the Capitol.
“We’ve got food stamp benefits that are set to run out in a week. We’re trying to keep as much open as possible. We just need the Democrats to actually help us out.”
Vance reaffirmed the Republicans' strategy to try to get a handful of Senate Democrats to vote for stopgap funding to reopen the government; however, at this point, the shutdown has lasted for nearly a month.
The Finger-Pointing Continues
For the moment, lawmakers are preoccupied with blaming the other side for the budget impasse and not entering into serious discussions to find a solution.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune's 13th attempt to advance the House-passed funding measure failed once again on Tuesday, and he immediately cast blame on the Democrats. While paying federal workers and funding for FAP are certainly impacting disagreement between lawmakers, healthcare continues to present the most glaring point of contention.
“Now government workers and every other American affected by this shutdown have become nothing more than pawns in the Democrats’ political games," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer was quick to offer his perspective.
“We are in a health care crisis, and Republicans don’t even want to talk about how to fix it,” Schumer said Tuesday. “The president isn’t even in town as Americans are about to be devastated by the bills they’ll receive on health care.”
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski offered a more centrist view.
“We have got to come together, which means we’ve got to talk to one another,” Murkowski said in a floor speech, urging leaders to stop focusing on who was winning the political fight. “Right now, those who are losing are the American people."
The Clock is Ticking
While Republicans continue to ponder holding further votes on stand-alone bills to lessen certain elements of shutdown pain, such as paying the troops and federal employees, others see that discussion as futile. In their minds, it’s all or nothing. All the while, the clock is ticking.
If no solution, or even a partial solution, is reached, lawmakers face a grim reality that the shutdown is about to get worse … much worse. On Friday, members of the military will miss a paycheck. On Saturday, the government will stop distributing key food aid benefits relied upon by millions of low-income Americans.
Beyond that, worries persist that key personnel at airports will stop showing up for work, which could lead to even larger air travel disruptions and potential safety issues.
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