President Donald Trump directed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to ensure that U.S. service members receive their next paychecks, despite the government shutdown stretching into its fifteenth day.

In a memorandum signed on Wednesday, Trump expressed that “congressional leaders have indicated that political negotiations have stalemated” and that it was unlikely that the “necessary bipartisan legislation” to end the government shutdown would be passed before October 15, when active-duty military personnel are supposed to get their next paychecks.

Trump directed Hegseth to work “in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use for the purpose of pay and allowances any funds appropriated by the Congress that remain available for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2026

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