Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Thursday that without a government funding deal in place by a Friday deadline, U.S. troops won’t get paid over the holidays.
Even if they don’t get paid, those troops will be required to report for duty both overseas and at home, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday.
The Pentagon’s statement came as President-elect Donald Trump announced “success” Thursday in coming up with a new plan to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown, urging Congress to swiftly pass it in votes as soon as Thursday evening.
Trump’s social media post landed as Republicans said they had narrowed in on a tentative accord after grueling closed-door talks. The new plan would keep government running for three more months, add disaster assistance for hurricane-hit states and others, and allow more borrowing through Jan. 30, 2027, Republicans said.
Next steps were highly uncertain Thursday evening, and it was particularly unclear if enough Democrats, whose votes would certainly be needed on any package in the face of hardline Republican opposition, were on board — or even brought into any negotiations.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats were sticking with the original deal they struck with Johnson and called the new one “laughable.”
“It’s not a serious proposal,” Jeffries said as he walked to Democrats’ own closed-door caucus meeting. Inside, Democrats were chanting, “Hell, no!”
Ryder said that without an agreement to fund the government, troops will not receive their end-of-month paychecks, reservists drilling after Friday will not be paid, and federal civilians who are required to work during a shutdown also will not be paid.
The military payroll is just one of thousands of federal accounts that would be affected, but one of the most visible.
Congress was on the verge of passing a stopgap measure on Wednesday to keep the government running when President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk used Musk’s social media platform X to attack the 1,500-page bill over its unrelated spending add-ons and threaten any Republican lawmaker who supported its passage. Support for the bill quickly failed.
Other civilian personnel deemed not essential to immediate military operations will be furloughed, Ryder said.
In previous shutdowns Congress has worked to secure troop pay, but not everyone was covered. In 2019, members of the Coast Guard were left out and went more than a month without pay.
“A lapse in funding will cause serious disruptions across the Defense Department and is still avoidable,” Ryder said.
