Vance Says Trump Administration Has Found a Way to Pay the Military This Week

Vice President JD Vance said that the Trump administration has found a way to pay military members this week despite the ongoing government shutdown.

“We believe that we can continue to pay the troops on Friday,” Vance told reporters after attending a Senate GOP lunch on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to pay everybody, because we’ve been handed a very bad hand by the Democrats.”

“This is one of the reasons why you’ve seen some layoffs in the federal workforce. We do think that we can continue paying the troops, at least for now,” he added.

Vance did not discuss paying the military or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding during the closed-door lunch, Sen. Josh Hawley told Politico. The White House did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment and has yet to release details about how the upcoming paychecks will be funded.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon diverted money in its budget to prevent military families from missing the first paychecks of October, but it is unclear if they will be paid Friday.

President Donald Trump said last week that he convinced an anonymous donor, later identified by The New York Times as the reclusive billionaire Timothy Mellon, to donate $130 million to fund military paychecks. The donation is not enough on its own to pay the members’ next paychecks, which would equate to roughly $100 per service member.

Service members across the country have been seen in line at food banks as the federal government shutdown drags into its fifth week. Nonprofits that provide food assistance to military members told ABC News last week that they’ve seen a 30% to 75% spike in military families seeking food.

On Thursday, the Senate failed to advance a bill that would have provided appropriations to pay military personnel and “excepted employees” of federal agencies being affected by the shutdown. Three Democrats voted in support of the bill, including Sens. John Fetterman, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Speaking from the Capitol, Vance told reporters the White House is working to keep “as much open as possible,” including SNAP funding that is set to run out of cash at the end of the week.

“There are limitations on all these funds. There are limitations on how you can use them,” Vance said. “Obviously, it’s a limited pot of money, so even if you use them for one thing, that means you can’t use them for another.”

Correction: This story has been updated with the correct figure reportedly donated by Timothy Mellon.