House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole issued a statement on the timely payment of U.S. military personnel following a government shutdown. Cole attributed the risk to service members’ paychecks to what he described as a “Democrat-driven shutdown,” which he said stalled Congressional efforts and endangered the financial stability of military families.
According to Cole, a nonpartisan funding extension was blocked by Senate Democrats, leading President Trump to intervene and ensure that troops received their pay. He warned that further disruptions and risks to federal employee compensation could continue unless enough Democrats join Republicans in the Senate to reach the required 60-vote threshold for funding measures.
“It’s an unfortunate truth that Democrats voted to deny our troops paychecks. The threat to the livelihoods of our active-duty heroes would have been realized today without President Trump taking action. He was forced to address the difficult situation of determining whether the U.S. government can pay the nation’s military. This is exactly why nearly a month ago, House Republicans voted to fund the entire federal government – avoiding the need to make such executive determinations. Instead of standing with House Republicans and exercising the power of the purse, House and Senate Democrats thought shutting down the entire government and handing the keys to OMB was the better path forward. Minority Leaders Jeffries and Schumer have sidelined Congress and good faith efforts toward regular order. They’ve decided that progressive popularity matters more than Americans being paid on time, nutrition assistance for babies, and health services for our seniors. I continue to urge them to reconsider and make the right decision for the American people. True courage is taking responsible action for the nation even when politics makes it inconvenient,” Cole stated.
The ongoing dispute over federal funding has resulted in interrupted services across various sectors, with continued uncertainty over future payments if legislative agreement is not reached.
